THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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BY 


MINNIE  WILLIS  BAINES 

AUTHOR  OF 
"THE  SILENT  LAND,"  "HIS  COUSIN,  THE  DOCTOR,"  ETC. 


CINCINNATI:  CRANSTON  &  STOWE 

NEW  YORK :  HUNT  &  EATON 

1892. 


«-S3J«M 

Copyrig-ht  by 
CRANSTON  &  STOWK, 


rs 


TO 


A  Christian  Pilgrim  Consistently  Walking 
in  the   Narrow  Way. 


759408 


pHE    Pilgrim 's   Vision "    explains  its   own 
purpose  and  excuse  for  being. 

The  characters  introduced  in  this  Alle 
gory  are  among  those  which  are  disturbing,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  the  faith  of  a  certain 
class  of  believers  in  the  Christian  Church  of 
to-day.  I  expect  neither  to  wound  nor  bruise  the  Phi 
listine  giants  indicated,  with  these  "  smooth  stones 
out  of  the  brook."  My  design  in  hurling  them  is 
to  attract  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  are  agents 
of  such  disquietude,  in  the  hope  that,  by  so  doing, 
I  may  deter  some  bewildered  souls  from  becoming 
their  prisoners,  and  being  carried  off  to  their  "Doubt 
ing  Castles." 

M.  W.  B. 
SPRINGFIELD,  O.,  1891. 


;iTHER  the  Worker  did  in  ancient  days, 

Give  us  the  word,  his  tale  of  love  and  might, 
(And  if,  in  truth,  He  gave  it  us,  who  says 
He  did  not  give  it  right?) 

Or  else  He  gave  it  not,  and  then  indeed 

We  know  not  if  He  is,  by  whom  our  years 

Are  portioned— who  the  orphan  moons  doth  lead, 
And  the  unfathered  spheres. 

How  would  it  make  the  weight  and  wonder  less, 
If  lifted  from  immortal  shoulders  down, 

The  worlds  were  cast  on  seas  of  emptiness, 
In  realms  without  a  crown? 

And  (if  there  were  no  God)  were  left  to  rue 
Dominion  of  the  air  and  of  the  fire  ? 

Then,  if  there  be  a  God,  "  Let  God  be  true, 
And  every  man  a  liar." 

Far  better,  in  its  place,  the  lowliest  bird 

Should  sing  aright  to  Him  the  lowliest  song, 
Than  that  a  seraph  strayed  should  take  the  word, 

And  sing  his  glory  wrong. 

—JEAN  INGELOW. 


PART  I. 
THE  PILGRIM  AT  EVENTIDE, 


Illustration. 

PART  II. 
FANCIES  AND  DREAMS,  .........  •   •    25 

Illustration. 

PART  III. 
APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE  .........  •   •   •    31 

» 
PART  TV. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION,  ............    61 

Illustration. 

PART  V. 

THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY,  .  .........    91 

Illustration. 


ilrim  af 


PILGRIM'S  VISION. 


WEARY  pilgrim,  as  the  sun  went  down, 
Sighed  thankfully  to  know  the  day  was 

past; 

For  it  had  been  to  her  all  cheerlessness. 
Not  that  the  light  had   been  with  clouds   ob 
scured; 

Nor  storms,  with  wailing  voices,  swept  the  land ; 
Nor  mighty  winds,  held  captive  in  their  lairs, 
Waked  from  their  slumbers,  shook   their  clanking 

chains, 
And,  breaking  from  their  bondage,  cast  themselves 

In  fury  on,  and  ravaged  all  the  earth. 

13 


14  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Not  this.     The  day,  to  look  upon,  had  been 

Most  fair.     'T  was  to  the  beauty-loving  eye 

As  music  to  the  ear  soothed  by  its  sound. 

'  T  was  turquoise  sky,  up  which  the  sun  had  wheeled 

His  jeweled  chariot,  every  shining  spoke 

Within  its  whirling  disks  ablaze  with  light. 

The  earth,  which  met  it,  at  that  far-off  rim 

Where  they  unite  in  one,  and  softly  blend, 

Each  with  the  other,  like  a  flexured  gem, 

Blue,  shading  to  a  softer  blue,  that  pales 

And  fades,  in  turn,  to  blue  impearled  with  gray, 

Was  earth  at  loveliest,  in  balmy  spring. 

• 

Fringed  were  her  hillsides  with  the  new-grown  grass, 
That  caught  the  violet  in  tangling  leash; 
And  on  the  trees  the  crinkled  yellow  leaves 
Held  their  creased  foliage  out  to  zephyr-loves 
To  blow  it  smooth  and  wide  and  beautiful. 
In  clefts  of  rocks  the  honeysuckle  bloomed ; 
Grew  fronds  of  ferns  and  myriad  sweet  things, 
Hardy  and  wild  and  of  erratic  growth. 
The  flying  birds  fanned  all  the  air  with  wings 
So  swift  they  sped  like  arrows  on  their  way, 


THE  PILGRIM  AT  EVENTIDE.  15 

With  changeful  glints  of  red  and  yellow  play, 

And  flashes  fugitive,  that  did  combine 

Blue  blent  with  green,  and  green   that  verged  on 

blue ; 

Red  reappeared,  and  struck  to  Tyrian  hue. 
Thus  ran  their  wings  the  gamut  of  the  light. 
Their  songs  like  memories  of  vanished  joys, 
Whene'er  their  chansons  did  some  pause  beguile, 
Touched  minor  chords  within  her  heart,  that  rang 
Like  merry  echo's  distance-mellowed  sound, 
Which,  though  it  joyful  strikes  the  pulsing  air, 
Grows  strange  and  hollow  in  its  weird  rebound ; 
With  other  spirit  touches  waiting  ears. 
In  its  fair  bed,  to  which  the  moss  crept  down, 
From  which  the  cress  threw  up  its  white  star-flower, 
The  river  rippled  on  in  silver  curves, 
Laved  water-lilies  bursting  from  the  bud, 
And  kissed,  in  passing,  isles  of  reed  and  sedge. 
Fair  Nature's  graces  had  the  hours  disclosed  : 
Why,  then,  rejoice  at  setting  of  the  sun? 

Ah !  there  was  that  within  her  being  deep 
That  answered  to  each  touch,  in  earth  and  sky, 


1 6  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Of  beauty,  and  the  speech  its  imagery 

Impresses  on  the  soul  in  language  high ! — 

Answered,  and  struggled  with  strong  throes  to  rend 

The  power  of  place  and  circumstance  that  held 

Her  bound,  and  rise  to  altitudes  ideal, 

That,  with  their  grand  suggestions,  wooed  her  on. 

And  as  it  answered  these  diviner  calls 

That  thrilled  her  to  such  agonized  desire, 

O,  how  she  loathed  her  lower  life's  demands, 

The  fetters  that  they  fitted  to  her  limbs, 

And  manacles  to  her  rebellious  hands ! 

Upon  life's  flowery  uplands  she  beheld 
Great  palace  walls,  within  whose  massive  piles, 
'Twixt  arch  and    column,  under  sculptured  frieze, 
The  crystal  casements  glittered  in  the  sun ; 
Green-tendriled  vineyard  rows  that  promised  grapes, 
And  gardens  with  their  breaths  of  mingled  balms. 
Swift  equipages,  there,  went  to  and  fro, 
With  mettled  steeds  that,  flying,  spurned  the  earth, 
Their  shining  harness  rich  with  touch  of  gold. 
And  there  were  throngs  of  people,  like  the  flowers, 
More  gloriously  than  Solomon  arrayed, 


THE  PILGRIM  AT  EVENTIDE.  17 


\ 


In  silken  vesture  and  in  jewels  rare, 

Bright  with  reflection  of  the  sunbeam's  rays. 

And  little  children  led  they  by  the  hand, 

With  dusky  tresses  crowned,  or  golden  hair. 

And  on  the  uplands,  where  they  idly  strayed, 

No  shadow  fell,  nor  storm-cloud  cast  its  gloom. 

And  there  were  homes.     O,  how  the  pilgrim's  heart 

Throbbed  in  her  bosom  at  the  thought  of  home ; 

Name  next  to  heaven  in  sweetness  and  in  power, 

And  in  potential  happiness  and  good ! 

And  in  these  homes  were  daughters  dear,  and  sons, 

Fulfilling  all  the  promise  of  their  youth ; 

And  blissful  circles  'round  the  festal  board, 

And  at  the  fireside,  woke  the  gladsome  laugh, 

Or  summoned  to  the  lips  the  tenderer  smile. 

And  there  was  music ;  voices  tuned  to  song ; 

And  love  and  sympathy,  divinest  gift 

That  human  heart  to  human  heart  can  yield. 

The  light  and  music  and  the  consciousness 

Of  all  this  joy,  whose  brimming  draught  held  not 

One  drop  of  all  its  overflow  for  her, 

Upon  the  pilgrim  smote  with  painful  stroke, 

Like  smarting  touch  upon  a  wound  unhealed. 

2 


1 8  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

For  all  that  she  had  ever  known  of  home 

Was  but  a  memory  of  a  by-gone  past  ; 

A  heap  of  ashes  from  a  fire  long  spent ; 

A  mournful  repetition  of  a  sound 

Grown  still,  that  through  the  chambers  of  her  heart 

And  from  sharp  angles  of  her  stony  grief, 

By  day  and  night,  went  ever  echoing  on. 

Her  sons  and  daughters?    There  were  long,  green 

graves 

That  evidenced  what  narrow  space  of  earth, 
In  opening,  may  ingulf  the  hopes  of  time. 
And  there  were  names,  upon  the  marble  cut, 
That  Love  had  chiseled  deeper  in  her  heart 
Than  mason's  knife  could  ever  grave  on  stone. 
If  Life  with  Death  fond  fellowship  might  hold ; 
Her  vigil  keep  beneath  the  cypress  shade ; 
Dwell  evermore  beside  the  long  green  graves ! 

But  Duty  beckoned  with  remorseless  hand, 
And  Care  said:  "None  may  lay  my  burden  down, 
Until,  within  celestial  gates,  it  slips 
And  falls  away  from  shoulders  that  are  winged. 
So  from  the  cypress  shadows  she  had  passed, 


THE  PILGRIM  AT  EVENTIDE.  19 

Albeit  those  shadows  lay  upon  her  soul, 

And  took  the  path  of  pilgrimage  that  stretched 

In  cheerless  course  beneath  her  troubled  eyes. 

'T  was  a  long  road,  and  through  its  blistering  dust 

The  pointed  flints  found  contact  with  her  feet, 

And,  piercing,  pained  them. 

On  this  thoroughfare 

Did  thousands  walk,  each  selfishly  shut  up 
Within  his  own  perplexities  and  woes. 
Of  kindred  birth,  these  tribulations  all, 
Yet  alien,  in  the  one  relating  touch 
Of  comprehensive  feeling,  each  for  each. 
Unique  each  man's,  in  being  his  very  own; 
Exclusive  to  his  sole  experience ; 
Interpretative  to  himself  alone, 
And  making  separate  atmosphere,  in  which 
Each  pilgrim  lived  and  moved  and  thought  and 

felt; 

Wherein  each  dwelt  in  state  of  ceaseless  siege 
That  made  him  blind  and  deaf  to  others'  ruth. 

Beside  this  highway  scanty  herbage  grew, 
And  branches  few  protecting  covert  made 


20  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

From  fierce  and  fervent  rays  of  scorching  sun. 
When,  at  long  distances,  a  fountain  leaped, 
Or  from  the  earth  a  turbid  pool  up-welled, 
Whose  waters  were  but  liquid  bitterness, 
Leader  nor  prophet  from  their  midst  came  forth, 
With  tree  or  salt,  to  turn  it  sweet  for  them. 
And  on  the  level  distance  beat  the  sun ; 
Upon  their  heads  and  faces  beat  the  sun, 
In  steady,  stern,  and  all-revealing  light, 
That  left  no  refuge  for  a  lurking  hope 
That  better  than  it  seemed  might  be  the  way. 

And  yet  there  was  a  shadow  to  refresh, 
Which,  when  the  pilgrim's  spirit  weariest  felt, 
And  most  opprest,  if  she  but  upward  looked, 
Seemed  hovering  o  'er  her  like  a  restful  cloud, 
E'en  when  trees  were  infrequent,  and  the  hills 
Their  grateful  shadowy  semblance  had  withdrawn. 
It  seemed  a  form  all  vague  and  nebulous, 
In  shape  and  contour  like  unto  a  cross — 
A  half-imagined  thing  when  first  perceived; 
But  as  the  pilgrim  longer  on  it  gazed, 
She  saw  it  darken,  as  the  darkling  air 


THE  PILGRIM  AT  EVENTIDE.  21 

In  purple  distance,  cool  and  soft  and  calm, 

That  floods  the  pass  between  two  mountain  peaks, 

And  seems  a  very  gateway  into  heaven. 

And  on  its  summit  grew  a  silver  light, 

As  white  and  clear  as  the  pure  light  of  truth, 

Whose  rays,  converging,  formed  a  royal  crown, 

Which,  as  it  were,  seemed  woven  out  of  thorns, 

Whose  every  point  like  diamond  facets  shone, 

As  if  each  separate  thorn  impaled  a  gem. 

And  on  its  arms,  and  at  its  mighty  base, 

Were  scarlet  lilies  lavishly  entwined, 

Each  brilliant  goblet  filled  with  globules  red, 

Whose  perfume  scented  all  the  earth  and  air. 

And  when  the  pilgrim  saw  this  deepening  shade, 

This  growing  crown,  these  scarlet-chaliced  flowers, 

She  felt  no  more  the  weariness  and  pain ; 

No  longer  thirsted  in  a  desert  way ; 

No  more  went  sorrowing  for  a  dear,  dead  past. 

For,  as  she  gazed,  those  lengthening  shadowy  arms 

Reached  down  and  clasped  and  folded  all  her  life, 

Uplifting  it  to  nobler  bliss  than  earth's 

Intensest  joys  and  pleasures  comprehend  ; 

She  seemed  to  understand  those  mystic  words, 


22  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"For  ye  are  dead,  and  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 
So,  when  the  sun  into  the  west  went  down, 
And  the  day's  journey  to  its  end  had  drawn, 
And  the  gray  twilight  glimmered  to  its  close, 
She  sat  down,  meekly,  on  the  scanty  grass, 
Withdrawn  a  little  from  the  dusty  way, 
And  sighed  a  thankful  sigh  that  one  more  day 
Into  the  vast  eternity  was  gone. 

/  Nearer,  by  one  day's  journey,  had  she  come 
To  Him  who  hung  upon  that  crowned  cross ; 
Nearer  to  that  far  city  where  they  dwelt, 
Beyond  the  hinged  pearls  of  those  lustrous  gates, 
/  Who  left  her  here,  so  desolate  and  forlorn, 
\     The  limit  of  their  pilgrimages  reached. 
1   And  in  the  evening  stillness  she  could  hear 
\  Her  fellow-pilgrims'  footsteps,  as  they  walked, 
\  Or  voices,  as  each  with  the  other  talked, 

they,  too,  sank  to  silence,  and  were  hushed. 


II. 


ant) 


• 


FANCIES  AND  DREAMS. 


THROUGH   space   descending,   slowly   came 
strange  forms 

Half  cloud,  half  mist,  and  fanciful  their  shape, 
And  singular  the  colors  that  they  wore. 
**•  These  ranged  from  somber  blackness  to  bright 

gold, 

Through  each  chromatic  change  of  tint  and  tone; 
And,  on  a  sudden,  as  the  figures  moved, 
All  were  commingled  in  one  joint  array, 
So  bright,  so  sparkling,  so  complexly  blent, 
The  pilgrim  closed  o'erpowered   and  dazzled   eyes 
That  could  not  bear  the  splendor  of  their  light. 
They  stooped  and  lifted  her  on  pinions  broad, 

That,  as  they  outward  spread  in  wide  expanse, 

3  25 


26  THE  PILGRIM'S.  VISION. 

Bore  on  their  edges  scintillating  gleams, 

Ivike  to  whipped  foam  that  tops  the  billows'  swell, 

Whose     crest    to    feathery    lightness   winds    have 

lashed ; 

Whose  every  sphere,  a  spectrum,  light  divides — 
Gives  back  the  golden  largess  it  bestowed 
In  thrice  ten  thousand  arcs  of  mellow  hues. 
Their  bodies  diaphanic  were,  and  thin ; 
Their  web-like  texture  she  seemed  slipping  through, 
But  fell  not;    for  with  firm,  elastic  strength, 
And  buoyant  poise,  they  held  her  in  suspense. 
Beneath  her,  faded  out  the  weary  world, 
The  long,  hard  road,  the  meager  wayside  cheer; 
The  skies  drew  nearer,  and  the  stars  came  down, 
A  constellated  convoy,  on  their  way. 
"Who  art  thou?"    asked  the  pilgrim,  wond'ringly 
One  said:  "I'm  daylight  fancies,  winged  at  night; 
Thoughts  and  impressions  subtly  taking  on 
Perceived  identities.     Beneath  my  sway, 
Impersonal  ideas  personified 
Become,  and  speak  and  act.     The  principles 
That  shape  the  purposes  of  life,  themselves 
To  sentient  existence  are  transformed ; 


FANCIES  AND  DREAMS.  27 

And  things  man  thinks  and  feels  and  knows  combine 
To  furnish  his  conceits  a  liberal  field, 
Give  his  uncurbed  imaginings  full  play." 

And  one  said:  "  We  are  brothers,  he  and  I, 
Born  in  the  self-same  hour;  of  different  names, 
But  twin  relationship.     He  who  knows  one, 
The  features  of  the  other  finds  not  strange. 
Of  changeful  mien  and  Protean  shape  are  we ; 
Sometimes  one  stature  represents  us  twain ; 
One  argent  plumage  gives  us  dual  flight. 
Out  of  one  airy  fabric  are  we  framed ; 
Its  tissues  light  as  gossamer,  but  strong 
Its  filaments,  as  armor  wrought  of  chain. 
One  course  is  ours,  along  the  hazy  way 
Imagination's  sinuous  curves  have  traced 
In  undulating  path  across  the  realm 
Of  fitful,  varied,  and  fantastic  thought. 
Men  name  him  '  Fancies,'  but  they  call  me  '  Dreams.' " 

And  silence  followed  on  his  spoken  words; 
And  swift  and  far,  out  of  this  world  she  knew, 
Into  another  type  of  world  and  clime, 


28  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

A  visionary  sphere,  the  brothers  twain 
Half  human,  half  divine,  possessed,  withal, 
Of  fanciful  caprice,  like  that  which  marks 
The  playful  elf  or  sportive  sprite,  conveyed 
The  pilgrim,  unresisting,  where  they  would. 

Then,  on  a  sudden,  in  a  distant  place, 
She  felt  the  wings  that  bore  her  cease  to  beat. 
From  tip  of  quill  and  vane,  the  radiance  died 
On  their  lowered  points  that,  closing,  looked  less 

bright; 

From  them  she  gently  slid,  and  stood  alone, 
'Mid  changed  surroundings — unfamiliar  scenes. 


III. 
jftppnmrf;  u 


ATURE  encompassed  her  on  every  side, 
But  not  the  Nature  she  aforetime  knew. 
Some  transformation,  seemingly,  had  passed 
Upon,  and  altered  each  familiar  phase. 
There    were    high    mountains    and    colossal 

rocks, 

Enough  to  vertebrate  a  continent; 
And,  thus  environed,  did  the  valleys  lie, 
Green  jewels  in  the  casket  of  the  heights. 
But  all  the  mountains  bore  upon  their  fronts 
What  looked  to  her  like  network  spun  thereon, 
Which  some  Arachne,  Pallas-cursed,  had  wrought. 

So  fine  its  gleaming  meshes  that  they  seemed 

31 


32  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Ivike  vaporous  films  that,  on  the  autumn  morns, 

Stretch  in  transparent  webs  across  the  fields; 

That  sometimes  hang  in  silvery  tatters,  caught 

On  bush  outreaching,  or  obtrusive  thorns. 

The  children  call  them  fairies'  counterpanes, 

And  Catholics  devout  make  the  cross's  sign 

The  while  they  gaze,  believing  them  to  be 

Shreds  of  the  cere-cloth  that  the  virgin  wore 

In  the  tomb's  cloister,  but  that,  .when  to  heaven 

Caught  up  by  hosts  angelic,  she  cast  off. 

Yet  seemed  they  firmer  than  these  airy  things, 

Less  frail;  each  line  deep  graven,  cutting  through 

The  greenery  that  hung  its  high  facade, 

Into  the  very  structure  of  the  mount. 

And  they  bore  shape  of  geometric  forms, 

And  diagrams  with  numerals  displayed. 

And  every  rock  she  looked  upon  was  stripped 

Of  all  composite  character,  resolved 

To  primal  elements;  each  stratum  showed 

Uncompromising  lines,  and  each  seemed  less 

Combined  with  that  which  followed,  than  o  'erlaid. 

The  soil  beneath  her,  all  disintegrate, 

Her  wonder-wide  exploring  eyes  beheld ; 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  33 

Each  earth-grain  separate  and  distinct  appeared; 
Each  particle  an  entity  in  fact. 

And,  walking 'mid  these  strange,  perplexing  scenes, 
A  female  figure  did  her  eyes  descry. 
Tall  and  commanding,  with  an  air  assured 
Of  gracious  certitude,  she  forward  moved. 
No  fluctuant  curves  gave  languorous  ease  of  port, 
Or  sensuous  motion  ;    for  her  frame,  well  knit, 
Seemed  as  of  close-impacted  angles  wrought. 
Not  one  superfluous  ounce  of  matter  there, 
Beyond  that  used  in  welding  each  to  each. 
Yet  was  there  grace,  such  as  the  iceberg  shows, 
When,  under-currents  towing  its  great  base, 
Its  upper  pinnacle  moves  slowly  on, 
In  stately  grandeur,  through  the  open  sea. 

And  she  was  clad  in  garment  straight  and  long. 
No  drapery  fettered  that  majestic  form ; 
But  every  fold  and  every  line,  disposed 
In  strict  simplicity,  so  moveless  seemed, 
It  might  have  been  by  iron  ridged  in  stone. 
A  simple  fillet  bound  her  flowing  hair, 


34  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

And  kept  its  long  luxuriance,  straight  and  fine, 

No  wave  nor  ringlet  broke,  in  ordered  place. 

Her  face  was  fair  and  seriously  calm  ; 

So  calm,  the  pilgrim  thought,  no  passionate  storm 

Had  ever  o  'er  its  placid  surface  played. 

Mild  was  its  look,  and  yet  inflexible — 

Serene,  but  with  no  trace  of  sympathy. 

It  was  unlike  all  faces  she  had  known. 

No  color  touched  the  rigid  cheek  and  lip ; 

Emotion  lit  no  flame  in  the  keen  eyes ; 

Not  even  speculative  was  their  gleam, 

But  wide-extended  were  those  orbs  of  sight 

As  if  to  compass  all  that  might  be  seen, 

And  pass  upon  its  character  and  worth. 

And,  while  the  pilgrim  gazed,  the  figure  drew 
More  near,  and  silent  stood  and  looked  on  her. 
And  as  she  met  that  penetrating  glance, 
Abashed,  for  the  first  time,  the  pilgrim  felt 
She  was  a  body  of  compacted  dust. 

"And  thou?"    the  stranger  asked;    "and  who  art 
thou?" 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  35 

"A  weary  pilgrim  to  this  region  borne 

By  Dreams  and  Fancies,  who  have  onward  passed." 

i 
The  stranger  smiled.     So  singular  a  smile 

The  pilgrim,  till  this  moment,  ne  'er  had  seen. 
No  mirth  nor  merriment,  delight  nor  joy 
Seemed  to  constrain  the  motion  of  the  lips 
That,  unrelaxing,  coldly  smiled  on  her. 

"It  is  not  strange  they  onward  passed,"  said  she, 
"  But  strange  they  ever  should  have  borne  you  here. 
This  is  the  realm  of  Fact,  and  idle  Dreams 
And  Fancies  have  not  power  to  here  survive. 
For,  if,  perchance  they  reach  its  boundary  metes, 
Some  foolish  mortal  bearing,  in  their  flight, 
They  must  pass  hence  or  perish  'neath  the  rays 
Of  the  great  sun  of  Truth  that  lights  our  world. 
I  've  seen  such  disappear  beneath  Truth's  rays, 
And  to  behold  them  is  a  curious  sight. 
First,  all  the  colors  fade  that  overlay 
The  edges  of  their  wings  ;  to  nebulae, 
Then  into  naught,  the  wings   themselves  dissolve. 
Then  their  thin  bodies  lose  cohesive  power, 
And  alienated,  all  their  particles, 


36  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

No  more  resisting  separation,  drift 
Asunder,  and  to  union  ne'er  return. 
Sometimes,  however,  with  a  mighty  noise 
These  airy  nothings  do  explode,  nor  leave 
A  molecule  to  tell  they  ever  were ; 
For,  unlike  matter,  they  can  cease  to  be. 

"And  who  art  thou?"  the  pilgrim  asked,  in  turn. 

"I?  Is  it  possible  thou  knowest  me  not? 
Why,  I  am  Science,  ruler  of  this  realm. 
Sure  thou  hast  heard  of  me ;  the  master  minds 
That  give  to  thy  low  world  the  only  thoughts 
That  elevate  its  life,  my  subjects  are  ; 
Ennobled  mortals,  wearing  lofty  names 
That  brightest  shine  in  earth's  empyrean." 
The  pilgrim  answered :  "There  is  one  more  bright." 
"And  that?" 

"  The  name  of  Jesus." 

Science  stood 

And  for  a  season  brief,  did  gaze  on  her, 
With  those  observant,  open  eyes,  then  spake: 
"Dies  Superstition,  then,  such  lingering  death? 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  37 

Dost  worship  the  impostor  Nazarene  ? 
Dost  thou  .believe  there  is  a  Father-God ; 
A  far-off  heaven's  beneficent  reward? 
What  is  that  in  thine  hand?" 

All  unaware 

That  aught  within  its  hold  she  had  retained, 
The  pilgrim,  downward  glancing,  now  beheld 
The  little  Bible  she  had  clasped  at  eve, 
When  from  the  roadside  she  had  sat  withdrawn, 
And  mused  on  heaven  and  immortality. 

"The  Book  of  books,"  she  answered,  speaking  low. 

"  Thy  Book  that  tells  how  six  days'  carpentry 
Made  the  great  earth  that  on  its  axes  swung 
For  many  million  years,  ere  yet  complete, 
A  ball  of  fiery  vapor,  hardening  slow, 
Whose  inmost  heart  this  hour  is  yet  alive 
With  blazing  tumult  and  portentous  glow ! 
Thy  six  days'  world !    O  pilgrim,  how  believe 
Thy  '  Book  of  books,'  beginning  with  a  lie?" 

The  pilgrim  clasped  her  fingers  closer  yet 
About  her  Book  of  books,  and  answering,  said: 


38  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"I  do  believe  thou,  Science,  hast  obtained 
A  better  insight  than  of  old  was  had 
Into  activities  which  served  to  form 
And  set  afloat  in  space  our  beauteous  world. 
But  there  are  things  thou  canst  not  comprehend, 
If,  reading  that  sweet  idyl  of  earth's  dawn, 
In  which,  with  loving  and  artistic  touch 
A  painter  poet  on  the  canvas  spreads 
The  gathered  legends  of  the  earliest  times, 
Thou  brandest  the  narration  as  a  lie. 
Six  days?     We  understand  the  little  words 
That  serve  conveyance  of  ephemeral  thoughts; 
But  ever  in  the  Bible  are  we  taught 
That  days  with  God  are  not  as  days  with  men ; 
That  when,  concerning  him  and  what  he  does, 
Are  used  the  common  words  we  know  so  well, 
They  oft  take  on  a  meaning  more  remote, 
And  from  things  understood  to  mysteries  turn. 
I  know  not  of  the  days  nor  years  employed, 
Nor  know  I  of  the  agencies  he  used; 
But  this  I  know,  that  he  the  world  did  frame, 
And   things   now  seen    from   what    doth    not    ap 
pear." 


APPROACH  OF  SCIEATCE.  39 

"Thou   knowest?    That   is  well.     How  knowest 
thou?" 

The  pilgrim  drew  a  breath  that  was  a  sigh. 
How,  then,  might  words  explain  the  how  she  knew? 

She  answered,  saying :  "  First,  by  being  told. 
That  datum  being  given,  I  know  by  faith, 
Which  in  me  apprehendeth  the  thing  told  ; 
And  Reason,  which  to  Faith's  support  doth  come ; 
And  Inference,  offspring  of  their  union  born. 
These  tell  me  that  behind  things  caused,  exists 
The  cause  producing  them ;  their  argument 
Informs  me  that  the  nature  of  things  caused 
Being  good,  beneficent  their  cause  must  be; 
Displaying  wise  design,  must  wisdom  have; 
And  Reason,  Inference,  Revelation,  all, 
Do  of  this  Power  initiative  speak. 
In  the  same  language,  with  the  self-same  tongue, 
This  Book  of  books  speaks  of  the  One  Most  High, 
Father  of  spirits  and  the  God  of  men. 
Nature,  from  which  thou,  Science,  dost  deduce 
Thy  truths,  is  not,  herself,  beneficent ; 


40  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Hath  not  intelligence ;  no  evidence 
Of  feeling  nor  of  thought  doth  she  betray; 
No  plan  hath  she ;  perfunctorily  evolves, 
Through  processes  established,  carried  on 
In  her,  by  cause  that  lies  outside  herself; 
Is  subject  to  a  power  transcending  hers. 
Faith,  Reason,  Inference,  Revelation,  show 
Of  mind  and  spirit  this  great  Cause  possest, 
To  which,  their  origin  all  things  confess." 

Science  looked  down,  and  on  the  pilgrim  smiled; 
A  smile  still,  slow,  of  scorn  and  passion  void, 
Where  tolerance  lingered  that  on  pity  verged. 
'"Tis  strange,"  she  said,  "how  thoughts  like  these 

can  live 

In  the  broad  daylight  of  the  realm  of  Fact! 
Thou  dost  not  as  thou  sayest,  pilgrim,  know! 
It  is  not  knowledge  but  belief  thou  hast." 

"And  dost  thou,  Science,  say  it  is  not  so?" 

"I?     Nay.     I  only  say,  I  do  not  know. 
'Tis  to  the  subject  safer  to  ascribe 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  41 

The  thing  beyond  a  peradventure  known. 
From  all  past  ages  life  has  been  evolved, 
And  matter  inorganic  been  produced, 
From  natural  causes ;  only  source  we  see. 
Thou  sayest  mediate,  I  zVw-mediate  claim. 
This  Nature  never  was  to  laws  untrue, 
Which  govern  her,  and  from  beginning  had 
A  trend  progressive,  in  the  which  we  see 
The  steady,  onward  march  of  fact,  evolved 
From  fact  anterior,  evolving  it." 

"But  back  of  all — ere  yet  was  Nature  formed?" 

"Why    sayest    thou    'ere    yet?'     How    knowest 

thou, 

Since  man  can  never  antedate  the  hour 
When  first  creation  did  revolve  in  space, 
That  this  same  Nature  not  immortal  was? 
Or — for  thine  eyes  do  negative  the  thought — 
'T  is  easy  to  assume  '  once  on  a  time  ' 
A  germ-cell,  with  the  mighty  mission  fraught 
Of  introducing  the  initial  cause 

Of  all  the  centuries'  evolutions,  lived." 

4 


42  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"  Once  on  what  time,  ere  yet  time  did  exist, 
And  there  was  none  to  speak  and  bid  it  be?" 

"And  a  'persistent  force  '  behind  it  stood, 
In  life  and  mission  to  continuance  breed. 
Why  must  thou  summon  a  mechanic  God 
To  hammer  out,  and  on  its  axes  hang 
A  wound-up,  clock-work  universe,  since  He, 
Himself,  remains  a  being  yet  unproved?" 

"And  dost  thou,  Science,  seeing  what  thou  sayest 
Is  law  that  Nature  never  yet  transgressed, 
Not  likewise  see  that  law  must  comprehend 
A  giver  who  the  law  has  introduced  ? 
But  if  thou  canst,  like  this,  dismiss  the  claims 
Of  Nature  to  an  origin  divine, 
Thou  dost  at  least  in  species  and  in  kind 
Believe  her  true  to  universal  law, 
No  matter  whence  derived,  nor  how  confirmed. 
For  the  first  impulse  toward  the  mind  of  man 
That  crowns  creation  like  a  diadem, 
Enwraps  with  purple  its  material  life, 
And  stands  as  surety  for  a  life  to  come, 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  43 

Where  dost  thou  look?     To  beasts  quadrumanous ? 
Dost  find  it  from  the  flattened  cranium  sprung, 
And  shadowed  in  the  instinct  of  the  brute  ? 
If  such  beginnings  such  results  can  show, 
Then  Nature  must,  like  Eastern  weavers,  work 
According  to  some  pattern  hung  o'erhead 
By  Him  who  guideth  evolution's  way, 

And  ordereth  every  issue  it  declares. 

• 

Where  in  the  germ-cell  doth  the  wisdom  lie, 
That,  by  the  theory  thyself  doth  hold, 
Bestows  the  gift  upon  irrational  life 
Of  that,  in  embryo,  whose  stature  full 
On  man  confers  the  scepter  and  the  throne? 
Nor  thou  nor  I  by  searching  can  find  out ; 
And  life  and  soul  are  equal  mysteries. 
And  as  thou  canst  not  know  life's  origin, 
Know  that  its  germ  began  to  fructify 
In  the  dim  morning  of  creation's  dawn — 
At  back  of  which  a  morning  must  have  been 
That  to  the  germ  gave  its  potential  life — 
How  better  thy  hypothesis  than  mine  ? 
I  contradict  of  thine  no  premises 
Involving  what  is  known ;  for  Nature's  page 


44  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION, 

Whereon  is  seen  the  impress  of  God's  hand, 
Is  one  with  revelation,  I  admit. 
But,  Science,  hast  thou  ever,  then,  beheld 
Atoms  of  which,  oft,  thou  assuredly  speak'st?" 

Then  Science  passed  her  hand  across  her  brow- 
That  fair,  firm  hand,  so  supple  and  so  strong — 

As  if  to  clear  from  out  her  active  brain 

• 
Obstructive  cobwebs  that  had  gathered  there, 

Impeding  the  free  exercise  of  thought. 
Slowly  she  said :  "I  certainly  must  grant 
The  atom  thou  hast  mentioned,  I  've  not  seen ; 
No  microscope  has  e'er  invented  been 
That  has  revealed  it  to  the  searching  eye. 
But  some  concession  ever  must  be  be  made, 
Assumption  from  which  reasoning  be  deduced, 
And  this  most  rational  in  itself  appears ; 
Doth  best  agree  with  known  phenomena." 

The  pilgrim  smiled  on  Science  as  she  said : 
'"This  is  not  knowledge,  it  is  but  belief.1 
If  I  accept  a  God  omnipotent, 
Instead  of  atoms  eye  hath  never  seen, 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  45 

Whereih  is  superstition  in  my  mind 

More  deeply  rooted  than  it  is  in  thine  ? 

Nay,  of  the  two,  my  thought  hath  broader  scope, 

For  I  assume  the  God  and  atom,  too. 

I  grant  assent  to  thy  '  Persistent  Force.' 

We  differ  merely  in  the  form  of  words; 

Thou  only  callest  God  another  name." 

Again,  across  the  brow  the  fair  hand  passed, 
And,  speaking  slowly,  Science  said:  "  Perhaps! 
I  have  affirmed  not,  neither  do  deny. 
I  do  not  so  believe;  but  mere  belief 
That  is  not  rooted  in  apparent  fact 
Ne'er  rises  to  conviction  in  my  mind. 
But,  whether  there  exist  a  God  or  no, 
Rest  not  thy  faith  upon  his  so-called  'Son,' 
Whom  millions  worship  as  his  messenger, 
Whose  birth,  career,  and  teachings  are  enwrapped 
In  what  the  ignorant  call  '  miracle.' 
Dost  thou  not  know  no  '  miracle '  exists, 
Nor  ever  did;  that  naught  can  contravene 
Nor  thwart  the  dicta  Nature  has  laid  down? 
That  '  miracle '  imposture  only  means? 


46  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

By  tracing  species'  origin  we  know 
Men  were  developed  from  a  lowlier  life. 
No  man  of  woman  born,  who  ever  lived, 
By  miracle  had  birth — it  could  not  be." 

"  How  can  it  chance  that  this  '  Persistent  Force 
Thou  dost  admit  existing  back  of  life, 
Supplying  to  it  that  continuing  power, 
Without  which  its  vitality  must  fail, 
Sustained  by  which  'tis  richly  animate, 
Should  be  unable  to  communicate 
Itself  to  matter  in  some  line  unknown 
To  partial  Wisdom's  self-sufficient  sense  ? 
To  Science,  that  is  yet  in  infancy ; 
But  that  when  fully  grown  the  power  shall  lack 
To  con,  with  carnal  eyes,  the  Spirit's  lore? 
For  to  admit  that  thy  '  Persistent  Force ' 
Is  force  transcending  Nature's,  but  admits 
The  potency  of  miracle  as  well. 
Thus  thine  objections  to  the  Savior's  birth 
Are  banished ,  likewise  to  his  wondrous  works ; 
And  there  are  proofs  that  verify  his  claims, 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  47 

Transcending  any  proof  that  from  the  earth 
Thy  hands  can  dig,  or  figure  on  the  rocks." 

"And  they?" 

"Are  written  with  a  subtler  pen, 
Invisible  to  thee,  on  the  soul's  page. 
Christ  claimed  that  his  dominion  was  the  realm 
Of  spiritual  life ;  and  on  that  life's 
Kxperiences,  he  answers  doth  impress 
To  problems  reason  never  yet  has  solved, 
Though  handmaid  to  thyself  she  claims  to  be. 
Or  rather,  thou  dost  claim ;  and  yet  methinks 
She  looks  approval  on  the  higher  truth, 
Whenever  to  her  function  it  appeals. 
But  there  's  persuasion  beyond  reason's  power, 
Or  knowledge's  as  thou  know'st  it,  or  yet  faith's; 
From  confident  assurance  it  takes  rise, 
Which  is  the  offspring  of  obedient  love." 

"  Not  in  the  realm  of  Fact." 

"  Thou  dost    mistake 
For  thou  dost  know  thought  and  perception  are 


48  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Possessions  that  distinguish  man  from  brute; 

And  these  to  that  domain  of  his  belong, 

Furnish  that  proof  of  spiritual  sway 

That  crowns  him  as  divine — the  Savior  Son! 

Feelings,  emotions,  aspirations  high, 

Are  embryonic  forms  of  prophecy  ; 

They  are  the  subtle  shapes  of  unseen  life — 

Unseen,  save  in  the  issues  they  advance — 

Behind  which,  standing  a  '  Persistent  Force,' 

Christ  furnishes  the  mighty  power  that  gives 

Impulsion  to  a  life  wherein  such  thought 

Finds  fitting  soil  for  its  development; 

That  higher  life  whose  evolution  grand 

Shall  raise  us  from  the  dust  of  earth  to  heaven. 

The  strata  of  that  spiritual  life, 

Thou,  Science,  hast  not  power  to  analyze  ; 
* 
Yet,  dost  thou  know,  who  art  of  Knowledge  born, 

In  sequent  process  they  are  builded  up ; 
And  principles  result  from  tendencies. 
The  unseen  influence  working  known  effect, 
Doth  lie  as  much  within  the  realm  of  Fact, 
As  nurture  of  the  plant,  directly  traced 
For  origin  to  protoplasm's  power." 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  49 

"  What  should  I  know  of  fitful  feeling  weak  ? 
I  have  convictions,  but  I  never  feel." 

"  Not  as  do  I,  and  yet  I  am  assured 
That  thy  convictions  are  compounded  things, 
In  which  both  thought  and  feeling  are  involved. 
Tenacity  of  grasp  with  which  we  cling 

• 

To  that  of  which  persuaded  thought  lays  hold, 
Has  feeling  that  retentiveness  doth  urge. 
One  whose  bright  spirit  caught  the  radiant  flash 
Of  truth  that  vision  gross  might  not  discern, 
Hath  said  in  feeling's  base  the  thought  is  laid 
That  o'er  it  towers  in  moveless  pyramid.  * 
O,  Science,  there 's  a  miracle  of  grace, 
Beyond  thy  power  of  judgment  and  award  ! 
Shouldst  thou  dispute  that  water  turned  to  wine, 
Blind  eyes  were  opened,  and  loaves  multiplied, 
Thou  never,  never,  while  the  ages  roll, 
Couldst  prove  to  man  that  out  of  faith  in  Christ 


*"A11  thought  begins  in  feeling, — wide 

In  the  great  mass  its  base  is  hid, 
And  narrowing  up  to  thought,  stands  glorified, 
A  moveless  pyramid." 

—JAMES  RUSSELL 


50  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

There  springs  not  up,  within  his  conscious  soul, 
A  joy  and  hope,  immeasurable,  divine  ; 
Of  earth  the  comfort,  prophecy  of  heaven  ! 
How,  Science,  can  it  be  that  waters  rise 
So  far  above  their  source,  if  it  be  true 
That  He  who  doth  inspire  such  blissful  hope, 
Who  is  the  source  of  such  impassioned  zeal, 
In  whose  name  modern  miracles  more  great 
Than  those  of  ancient  times  are  daily  wrought 
Through  those  humanities,  from  Christian  root, 
That  spring  and  flower  and  yield  their  fruit  to  him, 
Is  an  impostor,  as  thou  say'st  he  is?" 

"  Delusion  " — 

"  Then  delusion  hath  the  power, 
Within  itself,  of  working  miracles." 

"  Thy  premise  is  a  blind,  unreasoning  faith; 
On  it  thou  dost  but  speculate,  at  best. 
I  see  thou  wilt  not  yield  thy  Savior  myth ; 
As  for  thy  heaven,  it  is  a  harmless  hope ; 
But  Science  doth  earth's  history  backward  read, 
From  last  to  first,  as  ancient  Hebrews  did 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  51 

The  lettered  words  of  sacred  parchment  rolls ; 

And  there  has  never  come  from  death's  yon  side 

Returning  mortal  to  declare  that  life 

Is  carried  over  and  beyond  that  gulf 

Of  blank  extinction  which  doth  swallow  it." 

"  One  '  stemmed  the  outward  current  and  came 

back— 

But  He  was  more  than  mortal' — to  declare 
That  as  he  lived,  so  man  should  live  again." 

"  That  resurrection  miracle  's  a  dream. 
Dost  thou,  too,  look  for  life  beyond  the  grave  ?" 

"  O,  with  what  joy,  because  He  lives  again  ! 
Come,  tell  me,  Science,  dost  thou  never  ask, 
As,  delving  'midst  God's  works,  thine  eyes  behold 
The  wondrous  evidences  of  His  power, 
Wherefore  its  exercise,  and  what  its  aim  ? 
Dost  thou  not  ever  query,  why  put  forth, 
If  but  for  a  few  ages  to  exist, 
Only  to  crumble  and  to  disappear, 
Unless  it  be  to  man  to  minister, 


52  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Heir  of  salvation,  and  a  heavenly  home? 
Why  given  these  capacities  in  man 
If  soon  his  mind  to  death  must  be  allied, 
And  never  nearer  than  conjecture  come 
To  all  that  underlies  life's  mysteries  ? 
Reason,  O  Science,  give  me  reason  why 
Man  was  created,  if  't  were  but  to  die  !" 

"  Against  that  question  is  the  answer  writ  : 
'  Unknowable  man's  future  destiny.'" 

The  pilgrim  smiled,  and  lifting  up  her  eyes, 
Which  bitter  tears  had  washed  to  clearest  sight, 
Said:  "Wondrous  knowledge  from  the  prudent  hid, 
And  wise,  has  God  unto  his  babes  revealed ! 
I  thank  him  more  than  ever,  now,  for  this; 
For  present  mercy  and  for  grace  bestowed ; 
For  life  immortal  yet  to  be  disclosed ; 
For  hope  of  heaven  and  Jesus ;  that,  at  last, 
Redeemed,  restored,  my  loved  ones  I  shall  clasp. 
O,  there  are  tablets  in  the  human  heart 
He  graveth  deeper  than  the  granite  rock  ! 
On  these  I  read  his  records,  and  I  know 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  53 

The  revelation  there  inscribed,  is  truth. 

Tell  me,  O  Science,  whence  thy  comfort  comes, 

And  from  what  source  thy  pleasure  doth  arise." 

Then  Science  pointed  to  the  mountain  fronts 
On  which  the  diagrams  and  figures  were, 
And  to  the  earth  and  rocks,  and  far  away 
To  a  blue  glacier's  peak,  that  coldly  rose, 
In  steely  splendor,  over  its  moraines. 
"My  pleasure  is  the  riddle  of  the  earth, 
And  all  that  in  it  is  to  read  aright ; 
Discover  whence  the  species  it  supports, 
And  link  them  each  to  each,  successively, 
As  life's  great  structure  to  completeness  grows." 

"But   man?     Hast    thou    discovered  whence    he 
came?" 

"There  is  a  link,  as  yet  established  not, 
Connecting  him  with  anthropoidal  apes." 

"And  yet,  thou  dost  assume  this  link  exists?" 

"O  yes;  there  is  no  possible  mistake. 
The  chain  of  evolution  so  complete 


54  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Would  not  break  here,  and  Nature  retrovert 

Her  process,  to  this  point  well  carried  on. 

Cast  thou  away  thy  fond  and  foolish  dreams 

Of  God  and  heaven  and  immortality, 

Which,  of  fulfillment,  such  slight  prospect  have, 

And  I  will  teach  thine  intellect  to  read 

The  backward-reaching  history  of  time ; 

Resolve  things  to  their  primal  elements, 

And,  using  thine  own  speech,  declare  to  thee 

How  worlds  were  made '  from  what  doth  not  appear.' 

It  is  a  grand  and  glorious  pursuit, 

And  it  will  show  thee  with  what  unwise  air 

'Thy  bigotry  to  Science  condescends, 

From  stand-point  of  the  Christian  miracles.'  "  * 

"And  having  cast  these  'foolish  dreams  '  away, 
When  I  am  sad  what  shall  my  sadness  soothe?" 

"  Earth's  study,  up  from  the  azoic  age." 

"A  mighty  consolation!     When  my  tears 
Will  not  be  banished,  and  my  memories 
*Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward,  in  "Robert  Blsmere." 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  55 

A  '  sorrow's  crown  of  sorrows '  for  my  brow, 
Weave  in  a  wreath  of  mingled  flower  and  thorn; 
When  life  has  lost  its  savor,  and  to  die 
And  flee  from  all  its  burdens,  seemeth  best, 
What  shall  uplift  and  strengthen  me  once  more 
To  act  responsively,  when  duty  calls?" 

"  Examination  of  primordial  germs." 

"And  when  I  long,  with  longing  uncontrolled, 
For  sympathy  and  love  and  tender  speech, 
Such  as  the  Savior  on  the  soul  bestows 
In  the  still  hour  it  lingereth  at  his  feet ; 
When  for  dead  faces,  and  for  voices  gone, 
And  touch  of  precious  hands  that  mold  in  clay, 
My  heart   grows  sick  with  anguish, — tell  me, 

pray, 

Where  shall  I  seek,  not  the  narcotic  spell 
Of  poppied  calm  that  brings  forgetfulness, 
But  vigor-giving  draught  that  strength  imparts 
To  triumph  of  endurance  in  each  ill, 
And  ointment  that  shall  ease  its  bitter  smarts 
To  resignation's  restful  calm  and  peace?" 


56  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"  Read  Darwin  on  relations  that  exist 
Between  Lumbricidce  and  humid  soil ; 
Or  Huxley's  lecture  on  the  horse's  hoof." 

"And  when   death  comes  at   last,  and  on   mine 

eyes 

His  icy  finger  presses,  and  I  know 
That  life  is  slipping  from  me,  and  I  go 
To  that  long  sleep  from  which  men  do   not  wake 
Until  the  angel  sounds  his  thrilling  trump, 
And  greedy  earth  disgorges  what  she  held?" 

"Think  thou  on  Spencer  and  '  Persistent  Force.'" 

Then  spake  the  pilgrim,  and  a  music  sweet 
Trilled  in  her  voice,  like  ripple  of  the  brook 
That  hastes  to  fling  its  little  babbling  life 
Into  the  deeper  stream  that  waits  its  gift: 
"  Go,  read  the  backward  riddle  of  the  earth, 
And  hunt  thy  missing  link  of  lower  life 
Conjoining  brutes  to  the  immortal  man. 
To  me,  it  matters  not  from  whence  I  sprang, 
But  whither  I  am  tending,  where  I  go. 


APPROACH  OF  SCIENCE.  57 

Yet  were  thy  faith  repulsive  history  proved, 

'T  would  not  revoke  creative  energy  ; 

Great  power  hath  He,  from  low  evolving  high, 

And  from  the  ape  the  soul's  immensity. 

A  truthful  impress  much  that  thou  hast  said 

Doth  bear ;  but  truth  that  can  not  comfort  me 

Nor  dry  one  tear,  nor  yet  one  hope  inspire. 

Not  one  immortal  promise  it  conveys, 

To  strengthen  me  to  battle  with  this  life, 

Or  forward  look  to  one  more  fair  than  this, 

Beyond  that  awful  change  that  comes  to  all. 

I  better  love  that  spiritual  truth, 

Conformable  to  loftier  lineage, 

On  page  of  inspiration  here  made  known, 

Which  richly  blossoms  and  bears  luscious  fruit 

That  shames  thy  barrenness ;  and  I  will  die, 

If  need  be,  ere  I  will  relinquish  it." 

Then  Science  smiled  upon  her,  as  at  first, 
A  smile  all  passionless,  and  turned  away, 
And  moved  with  stately  calmness  from  her  sight. 


IV. 


^pirtf  af 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION. 


/^  ND    as   she   vanished,    all   the   scene   was 

changed. 

The  rocks  and  mountains  fleetly  disappeared, 
And    the    earth's    surface   like    a   parchment 

seemed, 

Old  and  discolored,  and  of  wrinkled  lines, 
As  if  in  ridge  and  furrow  it  were  plowed. 
And  from  the  ridges  there  grew  up  strange  plants, 
Unlike  to  any  she  had  ever  seen, 
On  which  was  man)'  a  gnarled  and  thorny  branch ; 
And,  in  a  furrow  kneeling,  she  beheld, 
In  cap  and  gown  such  as  the  student  wears, 

Another  female  figure,  which  did  dig, 

61 


62  THE  PILGRIM'  s  VISION. 

With  implement  of  modern  husbandry, 

And  patient  toil,  to  bring  some  tuber  forth. 

And  as,  from  time  to  time,  reluctantly, 

Earth's  hardened  crust  released  the  treasure  sought, 

She  held  it  up  to  her  myopic  view, 

That  through  two  crystal  lenses  closely  peered. 

The  curious  pilgrim  to  her  nearer  drew, 
And  downward  bent  to  see  the  things  exhumed. 
Their  semblance  varied,  but  they  all  were  roots  ; 
Cadaverous  was  their  color,  as  of  things 
Long  dead;  and  powerful  odor  that  they  bore 
Of  must  and  mold,  as  from  the  earth  they  came, 
Was  that  of  air  from  antique  sepulchers. 
And  with  the  odor  mingled  voices  three, 
Each  speaking  language  that  she  did  not  know ; 
But  one  had  sound  of  ancient  Aryan  speech, 
That  jostled  words  of  strange  Semitic  birth — 
Such  as  old  Father  Heber  may  have  used 
Beyond  the  far.  Euphrates,  where  he  dwelt — 
With  dialect  Chaldaic  deftly  mixed. 

Perceiving  that  the  pilgrim  by  her  stood, 
The  youthful  scholar  (for  she  was  not  old) 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          63 

Arose,  and  lifted  her  exploring  eyes 

To  read  the  meaning  of  the  pilgrim's  face. 

And,  as  she  stood,  the  growths  within  her  hands, 

Grotesque^  branching  in  their  radicles, 

In  odd,  fantastic  lines  their  shapes  revealed. 

"  What  succulent  juices  in  these  rootlets  lie 
For  use  as  food  or  medicine,  that  thou 
Dost  labor  with  such  zeal  to  bring  them  forth  ? 
And  what  are  they  that  have  not  human  life, 
Yet  speak,  as  men  at  Babel,  many  tongues?" 

The  scholar  held  out  both  her  burdened  hands, 
And  fondly  gazed  upon  the  spoils  they  bore. 
"  This  is  the  pastime  of  my  leisure  hours, 
Though  they,  of  late,  have  been  but  few  and  fleet. 
As  men  of  years  to  childhood's  sports  return, 
In  their  diversions  cast  aside  their  cares, 
So  I,  to  that  which  pleased  my  earlier  youth. 
These  are  the  roots  of  Hebrew  and  of  Greek, 
And  ancient  Aramaic,  Hebrew's  source." 

She  placed  them  carefully  upon  the  ground, 
And  in  her  hands,  as  if  by  magic  brought, 


64  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

The  pilgrim  saw  an  ancient  parchment  scroll, 

Shaven  and  pumiced  in  an  age  long  gone  ; 

Of  mellowed  tint  that  had  with  passing  years 

Grown  like  stigmata  of  the  crocus  flower — 

That  hue  of  archaeologists'  delight. 

She  gave  it  to  the  pilgrim,  with  command : 

"  Unroll  and  look,  and  read  the  script  it  bears!" 

And  on  its  yellow  surface  was  inscribed, 
In  backward-written  words  of  Hebrew  speech, 
And  gnarled  characters  of  ancient  Greek, 
Forms  like  the  ones  the  scholar  laid  aside. 
And  while  she  gazed  in  wonder  and  amaze, 
With  eager  glances  did  interrogate, 
The  fair  gowned  scholar,  slightly  smiling,  said : 
"Burning  inquiries  in  thine  eyes  I  read 
As  readily  as  if  they  had  been  traced 
On  ancient  papyrus,  for  mine  to  scan. 
Not  from  those  roots  are  yielded  remedies 
That  medicine  the  old  mistakes  of  men, 
But  virtues  that  I  from  this  scroll  express, 
With  reason  mixed,  set  right  the  theories 
Unauthorized  tradition  brought  to  birth ; 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          65 

A  bastard  brood,  unfathered  by  the  truth. 

Think' st  thou  no  succulence  therein  abides? 

So  thought  Ezekiel,  in  the  valley's  midst, 

As  over  its  dry  bones  his  glances  roved ; 

But  voice  of  prophecy  brought  bone  to  bone, 

Flesh,  sinew,  breath, — and,  lo,  they  lived  again! 

So  resurrect  I  forms  of  ancient  thought 

That  bear  the  standards  by  the  which  I  set 

At  rest  vexed  questions  of  old  literatures ; 

Teach  through  their  matter  how  to  learn  their  age ; 

Decide  their  authorship,  assign  their  worth; 

Explode  opinions  that  encompass  them, 

And,  till  of  late,  considered  of  themselves 

As  part  and  parcel ;  likewise  comprehend 

Analysis  which  leads  through  lingual  types, 

And  illustration's  multifarious  forms, 

Back  to  the  schools  and  ages  giving  bent 

And  marked  propulsion  to  the  written  word." 

"And  wherefore  unto  manuscripts  like  these, 
In  modern  times,  apply  these  searching  tests? 
Did  not  contemporaneous  people  know, 

And,  knowing,  ancient  authorship  decide, 

6 


66  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

E  'er  since,  with  putting  off  of  flowing  verse, 

The  long  robes  of  historic  infancy, 

And  girding  up  in  prose  the  loins  of  thought, 

Its  spirit  crystallized  in  written  words? 

For  'there  were  giants  in  those  days,'  incised 

With  powerful  stylus  on  their  age,  as  well 

As  metal  tables  that  the  burin  traced, 

The    types    which    framed    the    texture    of    their 

thoughts, 

Whose  classic  styles  of  grand  simplicity 
Have  served  as  patterns  never  rivaled  yet 
In  the  aesthetic  judgment  of  mankind. 
How  comes  it  that  a  people  then  far  off, 
Whose  century  was  a  future  yet  unborn, 
Can  thus  determine,  in  their  arrogance, 
Decisions  that  contrariwise  do  tend? 
Did  they  not  know  the  thunders  of  their  gods, 
Whose  grand  reverberations  shook  the  world? 
A  world  too  narrow  in  those  earlier  days 
For  men  of  weight  to  tarry  long  unknown. 
And  as  we  recognize  by  sound  of  voice 
And  facial  likeness,  children  of  our  friends, 
Arrangement  of  archaic  thought  and  phrase 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          67 

On  Hebrew  marbles,  by  their  strokes  disclosed, 

Vellum,  and  parchment,  too,  the  hand  that  wrought. 

Are  not  traditions — if  thou  call'st  them  so — 

That,  rising  in  the  era  of  a  deed, 

(Or  period  that  approximating  stands,) 

Whose  marvelous  execution  has  been  wrought 

With  mighty  sword,  or  with  still  mightier  pen, 

A  cloud  of  witnesses  that  testify, 

'  'T  was  he!'  of  value  that  by  far  exceeds 

This  analytic  acumen  that  comes 

With  lagging  pace,  so  many  centuries  late  ? 

Is  modern  man  of  so  much  subtler  mind 

Than  poet,  sage,  historian,  and  scribe, 

Who  read  these  annals  in  those  earlier  times, 

That  what  they  failed  to  see  his  thought  can  grasp 

Concerning  their  own  age,  and  boldly  use 

As  lever  to  o'erturn  their  chroniclers, 

And  cast  discredit  on  their  chronicles? 

Thou  sittest  far  away,  methinks,  to  call 

Thy  judgment  seat  the  court  of  last  appeal." 

I 

"  How  strange  it  is  that  when  I  strive  to  teach 
This  generation  knowledge  of  a  type 


68  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

It  least  doth  know,  and  is  not  competent, 

Unhelped  by  me,  its  mysteries  to  acquire, 

Its  stolid  mind  advices  doth  reject 

That  to  its  information  much  would  add. 

And  further,  in  the  rage  of  ignorance, 

Its  puny  arm,  grown  like  L,sestrigons'  strong, 

Would  fain  the  rocks  of  L,amos  on  me  cast ; 

Or  those  with  which  the  Olympian  deities 

With  outcast  Titans  courtesies  exchanged; 

Ossa  and  Pelion  tumble  'round  mine  ears." 

"Of  what  unwelcome  type  that  knowledge,  pray?" 

"I  think  I  see  the  text-book  in  thine  hand; 
Is't  not  the  Bible  that  thou  holdest  there?" 

"Yes,  friend,  and  if  thy  wisdom  clearer  makes 
Its  mystery-bearing  meanings  to  my  soul, 
Be  sure  I  '11  thank  thee  from  a  grateful  heart, 
And  not  reward  thee  with  a  Titan's  rock." 

So  saying,  she  held  forth  her  little  Book. 
The  scholar  took  and  turned  it,  leaf  by  leaf; 
Read  here  and  there  a  sentence  or  a  verse; 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          69 

Then  to  the  pilgrim  looking  up,  she  said : 
"  I  leave  its  meanings  for  thyself  to  find, 
For  such  interpretations  lie  beyond 
The  mission  wherunto  my  labor  tends. 
I  '11  tell  thee,  though,  the  legislator  meek, 
'The  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,'  never  wrote 
These  first  five  books  the  world  ascribes  to  him  ; 
Nor  David  all  the  music-ringing  Psalms, 
Unless  he  had  a  thousand  lives  or  so ; 
For  over  all  of  Hebrew  history's  plains, 
And  touching  each  event  within  its  range, 
Go  plaint  and  paean  of  the  Psalter's  strains. 
And  Solomon,  though  wise,  the  wisdom  lacked 
For  all  the  Proverbs  that  are  here  set  down. 
Ecclesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Songs 
Were  penned  by  authors  in  oblivion  lost. 
Though  Jeremiah  voiced  enough  laments, 
The  '  Lamentations '  had  a  different  source. 
And  there  were  two  Isaiahs,  you  must  know, 
Or  two  who  wrote  the  poems  in  his  name, 
Whose  prophecies  to  different  times  belong. 
And  Paul,  the  great  apostle,  made  mistakes 
Which  prove  he  never  could  have  been  inspired; 


70  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Else  he  would  ne  'er  the  people's  faith  have  taught 

To  look  expectant  for  the  Lord's  return 

In  the  same  generation  he  went  hence. 

Then,  too,  the  Messianic  prophecies, 

In  greater  part,  have  never  been  fulfilled, 

And  can  not  be,  as  their  specific  time 

Has  passed  and  left  them  but  as  idle  dreams. 

The  Gospels  many  errors  have  therein, 

And  the  '  beloved  disciple  '  you  believe 

The  writer  of  that  strange  Apocalypse 

Which  has  been  named  a  '  literature  of  dreams,' 

And  Gospel  and  Epistles  by  his  name, 

May  ne'er  have  set  his  hand  to  one  of  them ; 

For  those  traditions  which  affirm  he  did, 

Are  met  by  views  of  critics,  who  assign 

Dates  thereunto  which  fail  to  correspond 

With  those  of  men  who  argue  for  St.  John." 

"Assurance  of  these  ancient  worthies'  deeds 
Gives  tripping  fleetness  to  thy  sure  address. 
Have  they,  in  rehabilitating  dust, 
From  crypt  and  charnel  of  the  ages  gone, 
Arisen  out  of  rest  to  counsel  thee?" 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.  71 

"  Rock  first !  My  prescience  told  me  thou  wouldst 

throw. 

I  know  it  by  the  rules  delivered  thee, 
Deploring,  as  I  did,  thy  piteous  state 
Of  blind  enslavement  unto  false  ideas, 
Applying  to  this  work  of  human  hands 
As  fully  as  to  aught  they  e'er  achieved. 

"And  dost  thou  wholly  man's  accomplishment 
Reckon  that  labor,  unto  which,  constrained, 
Men  were,  as  instruments  of  Power  divine, 
Incited,  spurred,  and  gloriously  compelled 
By  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost?" 

"Thou  speak'st  of  inspiration ;  dost  thou  think 
By  verbal  inspiration,  then,  they  wrote?" 

"What  else?     A  formless  idea,  wholly  vague? 
A  floating  shapelessness  of  general  thought? 
The  Word  of  God  would  be  but  word  of  man, 
Thus  energized,  thus  hazily  inspired." 

"  Thou  thinkest,  then,  he  made  its  authors  scribes, 
To  write  his  meanings  out  in  clerkly  hand?" 


72  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"  I  think,  if  't  is  God's  letter  to  mankind, 
'T  is  his  dictation,  whoe'er  held  the  pen. 
Thy  secretary's  letter  is  his  own, 
Unless  his  pen  to  thy  dictation  glides. 
He  may,  I  own,  correct  thy  lapsing  phrase, 
If,  of  the  two,  he  have  the  better  taste, 
Or  finer  thought,  or  comelier  form  of  speech. 
But  thou,  I  think,  wilt  scarcely  care  to  claim 
The  Holy  Ghost  required  such  exercise 
Of  human  agency,  when  thus  employed, 
Transmitting  holy  truths  by  man  to  men. 
But  ere  we  into  deeper  waters  step, 
L/et  us  go  back  to  where  we  entered  in ! 
If   these    same    books,   whose    authorship   thou 

touch'st 

With  'Presto,  change!'  of  thy  magician's  wand, 
Are  still  God's  word,  and  credence  from  mankind 
Deserve  as  such,  is  it  not  strange,  in  truth, 
Admitting  what  thou  say'st,  that  all  of  these 
Who  bear  such  shining  names — this  galaxy 
Of  bright  and  lofty  ones,  'mong  whom  were  God's 
Effectual  working  men,  among  the  Jews, 
And  later  in  the  Apostolic  Church — 


•  THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.  73 

Should  have  been  put  aside  and  overlooked, 
When  He  had  honors  to  bestow  like  this  ? 
And  is  't  not  stranger  still,  that  men  unknown, 
Unnamed,  unheard  of,  could  so  well  have  worn 
Throughout  so  many  ages,  tunics  made 
To  fit  such  grand  Colossi ;  could  bestride 
With  attitude  august,  and  kingly  might, 
The  centuries  that  erstwhile  have  elapsed 
In  sacred  history's  records  until  now  ; 
And  never  had  their  borrowed  garments  stripped 
From  off  their  shoulders  till  that  hand  of  thine 
Laid  rending  touch  upon  their  purple  fringe? 
It  may  be  thou  wilt  tell  me  what  thy  name !" 

"  The  Spirit  of  Investigation,  I ! 
In  different  generations,  divers  names 
Have  unto  me  and  to  my  work  attached; 
A  work  that  varies,  likewise,  with  the  times, 
Although  its  spirit  ever  is  the  same  ; 
And  narrow-minded  men  of  every  age    ' 
Have  voiced  their  venom  in  the  titles  used. 
They  call  me  '  Higher  Criticism  '  now — 
My  friends,  at  least ;  my  enemies  declare 


74  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

I  'm  but  a  phase  of  rationalistic  thought, 

Such  as  in  varied  guises  has  disturbed, 

And  under  different  forms,  the  Christian  Church 

E'er  since  it  was  established,  to  this  date. 

I  differentiate  the  false  and  true, 

Which  in  men's  thoughts  identical  are  held 

For  lack  of  knowledge  to  distinguish  them, 

And  their  specific  differences  declare. 

My  appellations  are  ephemeral  things, 

Appropriate  only  to  the  passing  hour ; 

But  though  they  alter,  I  am  still  the  same ; 

With  Time's  cessation,  only,  ends  my  life." 

"As  criticism  is  thy  mission  now, 
Pray  tell  what  thy  critiques  would  fain  destroy." 

"False  theories,  unwarranted  to  live, 
Anent  the  book  thou  boldest  in  thine  hand  ; 
Its  verbal  inspiration,  also  false; 
Assumption,  likewise,  of  inerrancy, 
And  doctrine  that  man  may  not  be  inspired, 
Unless  he  be  a  man  of  lofty  name, 
Transcendent  virtue  and  assertive  fame." 


THE  SPIRIJ  OF  INVESTIGATION.          75 
"Inerrancy?     I  do  not  understand." 

"  I  mean  that  Scripture,  like  all  work  of  man, 
Has  errors  in  't ;  is  not  infallible." 

"Then,  wonder-worker,  wouldst   thou  overthrow 
The  Word  of  God,  the  only  hope  of  man ; 
The  chart  by  which  the  voyager  would  sail 
To  reach  the  better  land  that 's  far  away  ? 
Concerning  errors  of  the  which  thou  speak  'st, 
That  seem,  I  sorrowing  say,  to  give  thee  joy, 
Dost  thou  refer  to  scientific  thought, 
Whose  greatest  triumph  our  own  age  has  seen 
Wherein  a  blunder  easily  had  been, 
Or  incidental  circumstance  aside 
From  the  grand  current  of  the  purposed  flow 
Of  history  both  human  and  divine  ? 
If  'neath  the  apostolic  garmentings, 
In  which  their  mission  stood  approved  of  God, 
Thy  criticism  strikes  to  find  the  man, 
I  doubt  not  thou  wilt  find  him  fallible 
In  speech  and  thought,  and  in  conception  oft ; 
In  every  thew  and  sinew  vulnerable. 


76  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Of  mortal  creatures  the  restrictions  are 

Such  as  to  make  their  labors  ofttimes  seem 

L,ike  to  the  strata  of  the  valued  quartz, 

Which,    though    they    hold    the   veinings    of   the 

gold, 

Are  to  be  found  with  granite  intermixed, 
And  colored  by  the  iron  or  the  clay. 
Count  not  thiese  truths  as  errors  of  the  Word, 
But  simply  limitations  of  the  man. 
I  knew  not  that  it  was  considered  fact 
By  thinkers  of  discriminating  mind, 
That  as  concerneth  aught  of  Bible  lore, 
Not  an  essential  to  eternal  life, 
Nor  to  the  history  that  it  may  comprise, 
Nor  utterance  of  the  word  of  prophecy, 
The  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
Illuminated  any  phase  of  truth." 

"Long  as  thou  dost  admit  the  fact  I  claim, 
Thy  weak  distinction  without  difference  is. 
Not  Bibliolatry,  but  Christ  should  be 
Thy  constant  end  and  aim  in  worshiping. 
And  if  within  a  doctrine  lies  the  truth, 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.  77 

It  needs  no  lofty  name  to  bolster  it, 
No  Church  infallible  to  authorize." 

"7f,  sayest  thou?     How  know  men  of  the  truth 
In  things  where  human  judgment  goes  astray 
And  is  not  competent,  untaught,  to  speak, 
Save  from  the  records  of  this  little  Book? 
And  if  'tis  not  infallible  and  true 
Beyond  the  faintest  shadow  of  a  doubt, 
How  know  I,  then,  that  in  the  very  phrase 
Which   makes  Him   'King  of  kings   and  Lord  of 

lords,' 

Hope  of  the  soul  and  Savior  of  the  lost, 
I  do  not  stumble  on  some  error  there, 
And,  in  believing,  run  the  awful  risk 
Of  building  all  my  faith  upon  mistake? 
How  know  we,  either  one,  of  truth  divine, 
If  there  be  not  one  record  which  mistake 
And  error  have  not  ventured  to  approach, 
Kept  back  from  sullying  its  stainless  page 
By  an  almighty  Power  they  dared  not  cross?" 

"The  doctrines  of  the  faith  I  leave  untouched." 


78  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"O,  generous  soul!     Thy  desecrating  hand 
Would  but  disturb  the  faith  men  have  therein. 
Shake  the  foundations  on  the  which  they  rest, 
And  of  themselves  they  totter  to  a  fall 
In  the  esteem  of  those  who  held  them  dear. 
I  am  not  skilled  in  thine  analysis  ; 
I  can  not  speak  for  Moses  nor  Isaiah, 
Nor  when,  nor  how  they  wrote,  or  not  at  all; 
Though  Jesus  said  that  Moses  wrote  of  him.* 
If  not,  by  forecast,  in  the  Pentateuch, 
In  what  forgotten  record  did  he  write? 
Perhaps  the  Son  of  the  Almighty  erred; 
A  God  might  make  mistakes  in  authorship 
Where  sage  philologists  would  never  trip. 
Magnanimous  to  leave  the  doctrines  there, 
Yet  claim  pens  uninspired  have  written  them ! 
The  Christian  knows  inherent  is  their  truth; 
They  who  obey  the  will,  the  doctrines  know, 
But  by  external  evidence,  as  well, 
And  outward  proof  hath  God  the  Father  meant 
To  draw  new  converts  to  his  holy  Son. 
The  unbeliever,  justified,  may  say, 

*S.  John  v,  46. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          79 

When,  to  the  end  designed,  thy  mission  draws, 

'What  warrant  find  I  on  thy  Bible's  page 

For  confident  assurance  of  its  truth  ? 

If  uninspired,  how  know  I  Christ  is  God, 

Or  am  I  bound  unto  him  to  submit? 

Mahomet's,  Buddha's,  any  moral  code 

Comes  with  authority  that  equals  his, 

If  inspiration  hath  not  framed  his  Word.'  " 

"I  said  not,  pilgrim,  it  was  uninspired, — 

% 

For  by  thy  garb  I  see  that  such  thou  art." 

"Thou  didst  but  intimate  some  hazy  truth 

Of  general  application,  creeping  in, 

Impressed  the  thoughts  of  some  unheard-of 
men; 

Somebody,  somewhere,  who  they  were,  un 
known  ; 

And  yet,  contending  as  thou  dost  for  proof, 

Thou  canst  accept  as  genuine  their  words. 

So  wise  and  yet  so  credulous  art  thou ! 

So  doubtful,  yet  so  child-like  is  thy  faith, 

Thou  dost  receive,  not  questioning  the  source." 


8o  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

The  scholar's  shapely  shoulders  shrugged  them 
selves 
'Neath  the  straight  folds  of  her  scholastic  gown. 

"Authority  is  not  synonymous 
With  that  which  is  itself  infallible; 
And  your  Book's  value  does  not  rest  upon 
Who  wrote  it,  nor  inerrant  text  therein ; 
But  in  its  power  to  rouse  and  waken  souls 
And  lead  them  to  attempt  the  Christian  life. 
It  has  been  said,  and  I  believe  it  true, 
No  human  words,  of  howe'er  subtle  shade 
Or  graduated  meaning,  can  express 
The  smallest  part  of  one  divine  idea. 
That,  for  its  import,  we  must  grope  and  search 
Beneath,  above,  within,  without  the  text, 
Till,  in  the  ultimate,  to  which  doth  tend 
Train  of  that  search's  progress,  we  shall  find, 
At  limit  line  of  all  analysis, 
Best  indications  of  the  thing  God  meant. 
If  this  be  so,  and  so  I  argue  'tis, 
Why  whimper  after  inspiration  blent 
With  such  elusive  subtilties  as  words, 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          81 

Of  which  the  spirit  only  hath  true  life ; 
And  that,  to  different  ages  in  their  turn, 
'Must  be  progressively  interpreted?' 
Use  thou  the  reason  God  on  man  bestowed; 
Authority  that,  with  the  Church  itself, 
And  with  the  Scripture  is  co-ordinate." 

"Whose  reason  shall  be  drawn  on — thine  or  mine, 
Or  that  of  minds  unlike  to  either  one? 
What  reason  human  training  biases, 
Or  that  the  heart's  affection  doth  control, 
Or  circumstances  cause  to  deviate, 
As  education  or  as  interest  wills, 
Is  clear,  impartial,  great,  and  strong  enough 
To  be  unto  the  world  of  craving  hearts 
What  Atlas  was  unto  the  globe  itself; 
And  rest  on  the  conclusions  of  a  brain 
In  perfect  equipoise,  that  weighs  the  claims 
Of  truth  and  falsehood  evenly  and  well, 
The  arbitrated  destinies  of  men? 
We  read  there  is  a  part  of  the  Azores, 
The  waters  of  the  North  Atlantic  bathe, 
Where  the  magnetic  needle  never  strays, 


82  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Nor  dips,  nor  is  deflected  in  its  course. 
But  reason  never  yet,  in  human  mind, 
And  limitations  that  restrict  it  here, 
Could  rise  superior  to  the  mind  itself, 
Cramped  and  confined  by  its  environments, 
And  act  as  loyal  and  unswerving  guide 
To  the  meridian  of  hidden  truth, 
Which  He,  of  whom  it  is  essential  part, 
Alone  hath  power  to  hide  or  to  reveal. 
No  gimbals,  holding  it  in  free  suspense, 
Of  independent  thought's  unfettered  hold, 
Can  perfect  equilibrium  bestow, 
All  unaffected  by  external  things 
Attractive  to  man's  fancies  and  his  hopes, 
And  to  the  motions  of  the  world  and  time. 

"But,  speaking  without  figures,  I  would  say, 
Concerning  qualities  that  do  inhere 
In  human  reason,  thou  hast  made  mistake. 
Thou  think'st  it  the  determiner  that  finds 
Within  all  base  alloys,  in  its  assay, 
The  one  pure  metal  that  its  search  rewards. 
Thou  think'st  it  is  the  magic  glass,  wherein 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          83 

The  Persian  poet  tells  us  Solomon, 

To  magnify  the  wisdom  he  possessed, 

Beheld  '  the  cause  of  all  things '  when  he  gazed. 

Like  quicksilver,  it  runs  to  find  the  gold 

And  separate  its  wealth  from  worthless  ore  ; 

Yet,  unlike  this,  it  often  fails  to  make 

Amalgam  that  proclaims  successful  test. 

Though  reason  is  a  gem  of  matchless  worth, 

It  is  not  flawless  in  its  brilliancy, 

And  though,  like  the  king's  mirror,  it  reflects 

The  pictured  truth  in  bright  inerrancy, 

With  figured  causes  of  the  things  that  be, 

As  oft,  like  troubled  pool,  it  fails  to  glass 

Correct  proportions  it  should  reproduce, 

And,  all  distorted  in  its  lines  and  curves, 

Unlikeness  hideous  it  delineates. 

But  hast  thou  pushed  to  such  exhaustive  end 

Pursuit  of  meaning  that  in  words  is  hid, 

'To  limit  line  of  all  analysis/ 

Bre  boldly  thou  proclaimest  prophecies 

Referring  to  Messiah,  unfulfilled, 

And  such  as  in  their  nature  e'er  must  be, 

Because  the  limit  of  their  time  is  past? 


84  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

A  little  longer  con  thine  alphabet, 

And  search  for  hidden  purport,  ere  thou  speak'st 

To  such  discredit  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I  would  not  contradict  thy  postulate 

Concerning  words  that  play  hide-and-go-seek ; 

The  lesson  only  thou  wouldst  from  it  draw. 

If 't  be  that  human  words  so  lacking  are 

In  spiritual  force,  to  represent 

That  thought  to  us  that  higher  than  our  own 

Is,  as  the  heaven  is  higher  than  the  earth, 

(As  one  may  well  consider  them  to  be,) 

In  making  portraitures  for  minds  of  men 

Which    through    the    words    alone    the    'concepts' 

grasp, 

Would  not  the  Spirit  careful  searching  make 
For  those  which  best  unfolded  every  shade 
Of  purpose  and  design  embodied  there ; 
Gave  hint  and  color  of  His  meaning  forth  ? 
Since  that  which  best  shall  represent  the  thought, 
Evades  and  baffles  oft  the  mind's  pursuit, 
And  leads  it  far  afield  to  compass  truth  ; 
Depicted  only  in  a  general  way, 
And  left  to  word  devices  of  man's  own, 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          85 

What  devious  deflections  of  that  thought 

Through  roving,  rambling,  and  discursive  speech, 

Would  fail  its  heaven-sent  mission  to  complete ; 

To  be  a  lamp  unto  the  pilgrim's  feet. 

Thou  claimest,  virtually,  that  this  is  so  ; 

On  such  supposed  deflections  base  thy  plea; 

Thy  witness  'gainst  the  Word's  inerrancy. 

But  human  nature,  erring  at  the  best, 

When  called  to  treat  on  subjects  so  sublime, 

Needs  unction  greater  than  to  mirror  forth 

The  customs  of  the  people  and  the  times, 

And  the  enlightenment  that  marks  the  age, 

As  chroniclers  of  less  importance  do ; 

Plenary  inspiration  that  uplifts 

Above  the  level  thoughts  of  common  life, 

And  with  the  temple  veil  asunder  rent, 

Accepts  the  word  from  Him  who  sits  within. 

Unless  men  guidance  had,  determinate, 

As  certain  as  was  Ariadne's  thread 

To  Theseus  'mid  the  Cretan  labyrintfi's  maze, 

To  words  of  which  no  jot  or  tittle  moves, 

No  matter  what  the  progress  of  the  times, 

Can  we  believe  the  labors  of  their  hands 


86  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Are  worthy  of  the  credence  of  our  souls, 

Or  stake  our  every  hope  upon  their  truth? 

For  if  the  Bible  be  but  history, 

A  literature  of  peoples  and  of  times 

When  theocratic  rule  inflamed  men's  zeal, 

It  sinks  to  history's  level,  and  henceforth 

No  longer  doth  it  holy  sacredness 

Nor  high  significance  for  man  possess. 

How  higher  than  the  Veda  doth  it  stand — 

The  sacred  literature  Hindoos  revered  ? 

Or  venerated  Persian  writing  old 

Of  the  Avesta ;  like  to  it,  in  this, 

Men  have  disputed  o'er  its  authorship  ? 

If  't  were  man's  book,  thy  premise  I  might  grant 

For  spite  its  errors,  here  and  there  might  shine 

Some  gem  of  value,  or  the  truth's  pure  gold ; 

But,  being  God's  instead,  it  must  not  err. 

One  error  trips  more  than  ten  thousand  faiths, 

And  turns  from  righteousness  ten  thousand  souls. 

Hast  thou  not  heard  of  'rift  within  the  lute, 

That,  by  and  by,  will  make  its  music  mute  ?' 

If  inspiration  of  the  sacred  page 

So  variable  and  uncertain  is, 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION.          87 

It  leaves  men  free  to  form  such  theories 
As  please  their  fancies  best  regarding  it ; 
Then,  as  a  rule  of  conduct  and  of  life, 
It  ceases  to  command  respect  of  them ; 
Becomes  a  theme  whereon  to  speculate, 
For  dilettante  and  for  sage,  alike ; 
But  never  from  the  one  who  demonstrates 
Nor  him  who  listens  with  judicial  mind 
Henceforth  the  text  obedience  demands." 

"No  matter  what  objections  thou  dost  urge, 
These  are  the  facts  my  study  has  revealed  ; 
My  truths  must  stand." 

"And  God's  go  to  the  wall? 
What  fair  sophistic  reasoning  can  avail 
To  hold  men's  reverence  for  a  partial  truth, 
Or  lead  them  to  a  Christ  who  must  partake 
Of  the  uncertain  nature  of  the  book 
Wherein  his  advocacy  strongest  stands  ? 
I  know  upon  the  older  Testament 
Most  fiercely  doth  thy  criticism  turn  ; 
But  each  to  each  is  linked  with  silver  ties 


88  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Of  a  relationship  so  close  and  strong 

That  blow  which  maims  or  injures  either  one 

Must  to  the  other's  detriment  recoil. 

The  evolution  of  God's  love  to  man, 

(Or  its  expression — mine  is  human  speech), 

Which  comes  to  its  perfected  fruit  in  Christ, 

From  stage  to  stage  of  that  old  history 

Developed  to  this  consummation  sweet ; 

Beginning  with  the  Kden  prophecy, 

'  The  woman's  seed  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head.' 

What  'verbal  inspiration'  greater  power 

Of  nice  discrimination  could  possess, 

To  words  more  crystalline  of  sense  to  move, 

Viewed  in  the  light  that  Jesus'  mission  throws? 

But  as  concerns  thy  plea  of  doctrines  left 

Uninjured  by  thy  decimating  touch, 

Skeptic  and  infidel  may  rightly  jeer 

At  such  authority  as  will  remain 

When  thy  bold  hand,  with  sacrilegious  touch, 

Its  inspiration  and  its  faultless  truth 

Has  torn  away  and  trampled  in  the  dust. 

Or  has  essayed  to ;  for  I  do  not  fear 

That,  through  thine  efforts,  such  may  be  its  fate." 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION. 

"Thy  pious  ignorance  my  scorn  doth  wake. 
I  know  the  thing  concerning  which  I  speak." 

"Thou  say'st  thy  criticism  touches  not 
The  central  doctrines  that  the  book  enshrines, 
Or  God,  his  Fatherhood,  and  Jesus  Christ. 
But  if,  to  me,  its  tendency  should  be, 
As  to  full  many  surely  it  will  prove, 
To  trouble  and  distress  and  sadden  me, 
And  raise  up  questions  that  no  answers  find, 
Better  for  me  my  'pious  ignorance' 
That  deems  the  Word  of  God  unsullied  truth, 
Than  erudition  that  destroys  belief, 
And  leaves  the  soul  an  aimless,  drifting  barque, 
No  compass,  chart,  no  Father  at  the  helm ; 
No  Pilot  through  life's  dangers  guiding  it ; 
No  beacon-light  to  warn  it  from  the  rocks; 
No  haven  waiting  at  the  journey's  end ! 

"  I  care  not  for  thy  wisdom  and  thy  skill ; 
I  turn  my  back  on  thy  disturbing  claims, 
And  clasp  unto  my  heart  this  precious  Book, 

To  have,  to  hold,  to  trust  in,  cherish,  keep, 

8 


90  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Till  death  unfolds — or  life,  on  death's  yon  side — 

Fulfillment  of  each  blissful  prophecy 

Its  words  have  pictured,  and  my  soul  received : — 

Perhaps  behold  them,  like  the  butterfly, 

That  crawls  the  earth  a  homely  common  worm, 

Develop  charms  of  hidden  symmetry, 

And  fan,  with  gofden  wings,  the  airs  of  heaven ; 

While,  yet  again,  these  words  shall  Jesus  speak, 

That  to  my  spirit  herald  rapture  sweet, 

In  accents  soft  and  tender:    'Blessed  they 

Who  never  having  seen,  have  yet  believed.' " 

And  in  a  transport,  clasping  close  the  book 
Unto  her  heart  that  o'er  it  pulsed  and  yearned, 
With  lifted  face  that  on  it  bore  a  light 
That  from  within  was  kindled  and  did  grow, 
She  turned,  and  from  the  scholar  passed  away ; 
And  heard,  in  passing,  her  low,  scornful  laugh. 


V. 

pilgrim  anb 


AS  she  went  forth,  the  landscape  altered  was; 
The  hard,  seamed,  wrinkled  furrows  were 

I  \J  no  more, 

'  *jfp 

And,  in  their  stead,  a  tender  herbage  grew. 

Unto  the  north  a  chain  of  mountains  rose, 
Whose  lofty  peaks,  that  soared  to  meet  the  clouds, 
Were  hooded  as  with  silvered  ermine  cowls, 
That  did  proclaim  them  as  the  "the  home  of  snow."* 
And  in  the  valley  where  she  walked  were  wells 
And  fountains  to  keep  moist  and  cool  the  air. 
Here  all  the  charms  that  grace  a  beauteous  clime, 
'  Neath  her  admiring  eyes  concentered  were. 


*  Himalayas. 


94  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

A  banyan-tree,  whose  drooping  arms  embraced 
The  soil,  and  sprang  anew  in  long  arcades 
And  cloisters,  still,  inviting,  green,  and  cool, 
Did  woo  the  pilgrim  to  lie  down  and  rest 
Within  the  compass  of  its  grateful  shade. 
And  tall  and  haughty  stood  the  leafy  palms, 
That  under  the  close  chaplet  of  their  crowns 
Were  weighted  with  the  milk-filled  cocoanuts. 
The  brooding  air  held  aromatic  scent 
And  fragrance,  that  it  bore  from  spices  sweet, 
And  sandal-wood  that  in  the  hedge-rows  grew, 
And  piquant  perfume  that  the  zephyrs  caught 
From  creamy  umbels  of  the  anise-flower, 
Exotic  from  the  land  of  pyramids. 
And  gorgeous  birds,  at  her  approach,  up-flew, 
With  whir  of  wings  and  chatter  of  strange  speech — 
Those  spots  of  light  that  feed  upon  the  flowers, 
And,  in. their  flight,  metallic  lusters  show; 
Gold  pheasants,  feathered  as  from  paradise, 
And  paroquets,  in  varied  tints  bedecked ; 
And  peacocks,  pompous  splendor  of  whose  tails 
Was  eyed,  like  Argus,  in  each  feathery  plume. 
Swift  blendings  of  chameleon  surprise 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.          95 

Touched  crest  and  pinion  in  each  changing  light, 
The  while    they   flashed    from    branch    of  tree  to 

shrub, 

Or  in  their  stately  beauty  walked  the  earth, 
And  nipped  the  fruit,  or  on  the  legumes  fed. 
And  there  were  gardens  where  the  roving  breeze 
Was  faint  and  languid  with  the  slumberous  breath 
The  heavy-headed  poppy  flowers  exhaled, 
(Those  blossoms  the  wise  goddess  strews  for  sleep,) 
Or  richer  grew  with  sweets  he  filched  away 
From  panicles  of  snowy  jessamine. 
And  'mid  the  flowers  the  stealthy  serpents  crawled, 
As  sins  and  sorrows  trail  amid  our  joys. 
And  pranked  with  purple,  rose,  and  tender  blue, 
Or  snowy  in  their  colorless  racemes, 
On  thickly-growing  plants  in  stretching  fields, 
Sprang  the  long  blossoms  of  the  indigo. 
A  witchery  of  color  thralled  the  air, 
L,ike  to  a  cloud  on  which  the  setting  sun 
Throws  back  enchantment  of  his  latest  rays 
That  stain  its  nebula  with  rosy  tones, 
That  on  its  breaking  edges  turn  to  gold ; 
The  mango-branches'  pinkish-yellow  flowers, 


96  .      THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

That  yield  such  lovely  promises  of  fruit. 

And,  not  far  off,  were  murmurs  as  of  streams, 

And  liquid  monotones  that  did  not  change 

Of  backward-falling  jets,  which,  to  the  air, 

In  prodigal  delight  their  white  sprays  cast, 

But  ever  to  the  marble  did  return 

Which  walled  the  hidden  source  from  whence  they 

sprang, — 

As  hopes,  that  fail  to  reach  where  they  aspire, 
Beat  back  in  monotone  of  weak  despair 
Against    the    walls    that    seem    to    bound    their 

power. 

Save  that  the  voice  of  Nature  never  falls 
In  cadences  so  sad  as  voice  of  man, 
Who  from  her  patience  should  the  lesson  learn 
That  everything  for  God's  own  time  must  wait, 
And  to  the  soul  that  waiteth,  comes  no  loss. 
And  on  the  basins'  edges  lilies  grew, 
In  blue  and  purple,  and  of  hueless  white, 
As  if  by  impact  with  the  waters  struck 
From  out  the  bowl  that  held  the  crystal  pool, 
That,  by  their  beauty,  would  console  its  grief. 
Thus  from  the  soul  of  man,  in  bitterest  hour, 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.          97 

Ofttimes    upspring    most    beauteous    flowers    of 

faith. 

And  midst  this  scene,  enchanting  and  serene, 
'Neath  canopy  of  arborescent  bloom, 
In  loose  and  flowing  robe,  an  image  sat, 
Of  one  with  tender  eyes,  who  mildly  mused. 
But,  as  the  sound  of  footsteps  reached  his  ear, 
And,  on  the  form  advancing,  fell  his  eye, 
He  rose,  performed  a  courteous  salaam, 
And  bade  her  welcome  to  the  Eastern  world. 

"'Tis  a  fair  world,"  said  she;   "the   hand  that 

made, 

Must  well  have  loved  its  work,  and  lovingly 
Have  molded  it/to  shape,  in  forming  it." 

"  It  doth,  indeed,  stand  for  a  grand  idea ; 
For  things  we  see  are  but  reflected  shape, 
Or  shadow  cast  by  things  intangible." 

"  From  thy  grave  words  and  meditative  mien, 
I  see  that  thine  appreciative  thought 
Doth  trench  upon  the  serious  side  of  life." 


98  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"  Hath  it  another,  then?     Its  lightest  froth 
Is  but  the  topmost  crest  of  waves  below, 
Whose    depths   man's    longest    plummet    can    not 
sound." 

"Thy   speech's    deep    thoughtfulness   proclaims 
the  sage." 

"  If  study  of  the  causes  which  do  make 
Conditions  of  this  life  what  they  now  are, 
And  perfect  insight  as  to  remedies, 
Which  on  them  act  as  alteratives  to  change, 
Shall  serve  to  give  me  title  to  the  name 
Thou  speakest,  then  to  me  that  name  belongs. 
For  I  have  sat  and  brooded  day  and  night 
Upon  man's  mission  and  his  destiny — 
Whence  doth  he  come  and  whither  doth  he  go; 
What  influence,  malign,  doth  hold  him  bound, 
And  what,  beneficent,  must  set  him  free; 
How  evil's  reign  may  best  abolished  be  ; 
What  cardinal  virtue  has  its  exercise, 
And  grows  and  gains  new  vigor  in  such  act. 
If  it  be  possible  to  reconcile 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.          99 

The  due  rewards  attending  right  and  wrong 

With  any  substituted  sacrifice. 

And  musing  thus,  I  have  solution  found 

To  questions  hitherto  insoluble. 

I   know,   now,   whence   he    comes    and   where   he 

goes; 

That  many  repetitions  life  requires 
For  perfect  and  complete  development; 
Know  hpw  to  read  disclosures  of  his  past 
In  words  his  present  speaks,  and  presage  make 
Of  that  which  in  the  future  lies,  as  well." 

"  How,  to  thee,  in  thy  meditative  mood, 
Came  there  convictions  of  such  portent,  friend?" 

"From  the  Enlightener  of  the  human  mind." 

"What  medium  used  he  in  this  ministry? 
Came  this  enlightenment  through  church  of  his, 
Or  book  inspired,  or  other  auspices?" 

"Thy  question  doth  betray  that  thou  hast  come 
From  schools  of  men  upholding  church  and  creed, 


ioo  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Which,  as  abaters  of  our  sins,  or  yet 
As  solacers  of  woes,  fail  utterly. 
I  doubt  not  thou  art  one  who  doth  believe 
Doctrine  impractical  which  they  have  taught 
Regarding  a  '  vicarious  '  offering ; 
Accepting  or  rejecting  which,  to  live 
Or  die,  man  may  determine  by  a  choice. 
But  to  your  question  : — this  enlightenment 
Came  to  my  mind  direct  from  Him  who  gaj^e. 
None  mediates  between  my  soul  and  Him ; 
Exists  there  no  mechanical  device 
Conveyancing  the  thought  from  Mind  Supreme 
To  me,  an  emanation  from  himself; 
Not  a  creation  that  his  hand  has  made, 
But  an  emission  from  himself  thrown  off, 
To  be  once  more  absorbed  and  swallowed  up, 
When  many  incarnations  are  fulfilled, 
And  they  have  wrought  their  aim,  and  made  me 
pure." 

"  That  '  Mind  Supreme  '  hath  a  familiar  sound. 
Is  He  who  bears  the  title  likewise  '  Brahm?' 
Good  friend,  if  thou  be  part  of  Deity  ? 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.         101 

However  small,  how  can  it  e'er  have  chanced 

That  to  impurity  may  be  allied 

Or  sin,  or  moral  blindness,  what  thou  art? 

A  house  or  kingdom  that  divided  is 

Against  itself,  is  destined  to  its  fall; 

And  spark  from  God  emitted  that  doth  tend 

To  light  the  fires  of  sin,  hath  ceased  to  be, 

In  its  deep  degradation,  part  of  Him. 

He  can  not  sin ;  He  can  not  be  impure ; 

And  any  emanation  that  from  Him 

Comes  forth,  must  be,  in  nature,  like  its  source. 

O,  what  a  spectacle :  the  mighty  God 

Engaged  throughout  the  ages  of  all  time, 

Re-incarnations  ever  multiplied, 

To  discipline,  refine,  and  cleanse — himself ! 

Of  all  his  millions  of  emitted  sparks, 

Not  one  true  to  its  origin — himself! 

Surely  this  is  a  wonderful  belief, 

Surpassing,  in  its  inconsistency, 

All  inconsistencies  aforetime  known  ! 

My  curious  ear  is  listening  for  thy  name." 

"  That  name  epitomizes  what  I  claim." 


102  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"What  name  can  mean  so  much?" 

"  Theosophy." 

"  Thy  face  hath  not  a  wrinkle,  but  thy  name 
Proclaims  the  many  centuries  thou  hast  lived." 

"Not  I.     I  am  descended  from  the  Buddh, 
But  changed  in  many  a  feature  as  the  child 
Of  later  generations  often  is. 
The  superstitious  thoughts  that,  hand  in  hand, 
Beneath  these  skies  in  early  days  were  linked 
With  faith  in  theosophic  truth,  are  gone; 
With  growing  light,  my  wisdom  lopped  away. 
And  more  especially  in  other  climes; 
For  what  was  once  religion  of  the  East, 
And  for  its  devotees  a  thing  apart, 
Now  gains  new  converts  from  the  growing  West 
That  in  it  see  a  practical  escape 
From  the  vexed  doctrines  that  the  priests  espouse." 

"What  'superstitions'  hast  thou  lopped  away? 
Dost  thou  not  still  in  Lamaism  trust? 
Sequential  line  of  purely  virtuous  souls 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.        103 

In  which  divinity  its  temple  rears? 
Which,  when  the  bodies  framing,  fall  to  dust, 
Take  on  new  forms,  with  eyes  that  ever  see 
The  inmost  secrets  of  all  human  hearts? 
But  well  thy  doctrine  holds  these  virtuous  ones 
Can  be  discovered  but  by  favored  priests, 
Who  to  the  rank  and  file  of  worshipers 
Declare  that  the  succession  onward  moves. 
Well  for  thy  creed;  for  average  human  minds 
Would  scarce  select  as  of  desert  so  high 
Weak  mortal  creatures,  subject  to  the  faults 
And  vanities  and  greeds  of  common  life, 
To  set  them  up  as  priests  and  priestesses 
Possessing  some  occult  and  mystic  power. 
And  is  it  thou  who  speak'st  of  'doctrines  vexed,' 
Whose  bonnet-bee  doth  so  absurdly  buzz  ?" 
Then  from  her  tone  the  momentary  scorn, 
Which  unto  shrillness  had  its  music  keyed, 
Departed,  and  inflections  sweet  returned. 
"I  read  a  doctrine  here,"  she  gently  said, 
As  to  the  image's  sight  she  held  her  book, 
"So  simple  that  it  can  not  be  called  'vexed;' 
So  practical  no  superstitious  shoots 


104  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Require  to  be  lopped  off  ere  proselytes 
And  converts  may  be  made  of  thinking  minds. 
Its  tenet  is,  that  God  created  souls, 
Not  threw  thein  out  from  his  supreme  repose, 
And  gave  them  choice  of  evil  or  of  good. 
They  chose  the  evil,  and  He,  loving  them, 
With  gracious  Father-hand  did  interpose 
To  rescue  from  their  own  untoward  choice. 
One  spark,  one  glorious  spark,  emitted  He ; 
A  sinless  Savior  from  himself  sent  forth 
To  die  for  man  that  he  through  Him  might  be 
Received,  accepted,  saved  eternally." 

"But  due  reward  each  act  must  ever  bring, 
Of  good  or  evil,  as  its  nature  is; 
How,  then,  could  any  ever  interpose 
To  keep  effect  from  following  on  cause?" 

"Effect  did  follow,  but  on  Him  it  fell, 
This  Savior  sinless,  that  our  love,  as  well, 
Might  turn  to  him,  whose  love  for  us  did  save 
From  death  and  ruin.     'T  is  a  blessed  thing 
To  know  sin's  debt  has  all  been  paid  in  Him, 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.         105 

And  all  required  of  us  is  to  believe, 

And  follow  in  the  path  where  he  has  walked. 

An  onerous  task  thou  layest  on  mankind 

Of  self-purgation  from  all  dross  and  sin ; 

Of  ceaseless  struggle,  with  no  hand  to  help. 

It  is  a  monstrous  thing  to  vindicate 

The  agony  of  death  which  brings  not  rest, 

But  added  pains  of  life  again  renewed, 

In  which  the  consequence  of  former  deeds, 

With  their  long  train  of  misery  entailed, 

Is  such  no  soul  can  bear  it  and  be  saved. 

Thou  scorn'st  atonement  by  'vicarious'  means; 

Yet  what  is  this  that  dooms  a  later  life, 

Unconscious  of  a  life  e'er  lived  before, 

Or  deeds  demanding  sacrifice  therein, 

Its  antecedents'  guilt  and  crime  to  bear, 

The  burden  of  the  old  sin's  penalty? 

'Tis  the  same  meaning  with  a  different  name, 

And  hard  upon  the  generations  wears. 

Not  once  for  all,  as  in  the  Christian's  faith, 

But,  evermore,  throughout  all  time,  goes  on 

The  expiation  of  unending  sin. 

Especially" —  and  here  the  pilgrim  smiled — 


106  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"Must  it  be  burdensome  to  spirit  life 

That  'hath  no  certain  form'  as  reads  thy  faith. 

Does  God  so  little  care,  believest  thou, 

For  sparks  from  his  own  being  earthward  cast, 

That  he  can  sit  serenely  on  his  throne 

And  see  the  ceaseless  round  of  endless  pain 

Re-birth  attaches  to  successive  life?" 

"Not  endless.     Present  life  alone  decides 
The  destiny  the  future  hath  in  store. 
Its  habits  and  ambitions,  and  its  hopes, 
Furnish  the  forming  power  lodged  in  ourselves. 
And  not  alone  for  penalty,  birth's  use, 
But  gain  of  purity  through  discipline; 
The  transient  and  material  to  subdue, 
And  in  its  place  establish  the  ideal. 
Thus  doth  life  alternate  with  death — give  time 
Ere  yet  the  tabernacle  's  quite  destroyed, 
'Its  ridge-pole  sundered  and  its  rafters  broke,' 
To  yield  submission  to  the  Karmic  law, 
(The  doctrine  thou  would'st  strictest  justice  call,) 
Defeat  re-birth,  gain  credit  for  the  soul, 
And  reach  Nirvana's  peace.     Not  Deity 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.        107 

Nor  Devil,  as  thou  thinkest,  but  thyself, 
And  thou  alone,  art  thine  own. providence." 

"Thou  claimest  man  shall  be  absorbed  in  God, 
But  ar guest  God  shall  be  absorbed  in  man, 
In  making  self  his  only  providence. 
The  Deity  sits  on  the  heavenly  throne, 
But  gives  his  scepter  into  human  hands ! 
The  perfect  God  emits  imperfect  life, 
And  leaves  it,  unassisted,  to  work  out 
A  perfect  and  ideal  destiny  ; 
Emits  a  life  with  bias  toward  the  wrong, 
And  no  propulsion  save  its  own  ideals, 
Imperfect  and  confused  toward  the  right, 
And  then,  when  after  ages'  strife  of  lives 
Unnumbered,  said  by  thee  to  be  the  same, 
The  man  appears  who  yields  to  Karinic  law, 
And  leaves  the  lower  for  the  high  ideal, 
With  what  reward  doth  gracious  Deity 
Approve  the  victory  generations  wrought? 
Nirvana;  simply  he  doth  cease  to  be, 
To  know,  to  feel,  enjoy ;  is  swallowed  up 
In  '  Mind  Supreme ;'  his  little  spark  o'erwhelmed, 


io8  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

And  all  that  made  him  man  o'erwhelmed  as  well. 

No  fond  reunion  in  a  happier  world 

With  dear  ones  death  has  parted  from  us  here; 

No  conscious  union  with  that  Mind  himself. 

For  this  oblivion  hath  he  lived  and  striven; 

For  this  obliteration,  self  denied ; 

To  this  extinction,  tended  all  his  hopes. 

Thou  hast  a  trifle  higher  risen,  friend, 

In  reverence  for  thy  lofty  origin, 

Than  antecedents  of  thy  nation  born, 

Who  to  account  for  pre-existent  life 

And  to  provide  a  punishment  for  sin, 

Believed  the  Brahm  his  human  offspring  doomed 

To  transmigrate  to  flesh  of  brute  and  beast; 

But  higher  yet  in  spiritual  truth, 

To  finished  work  of  Jesus  lift  thine  eyes, 

Ere  thou  canst  know  what  happiness  inheres 

Within  the  true  believer's  paradise." 

"Thou  touchest  on  a  point  important,  here, 
And  knowest  not  that,  in  that  loss  of  Self, 
For  which  thou  dost  commiserate  the  soul 
That  life's  afflictive  bonds  can  bind  no  more, 


THE  P-ILGRIM  AND    THEOSOPHY.  109 

Lies  all  the  secret  of  its  ecstasy. 

Is  life  foregone — its  separate  life  and  thought, 

In  which  the  pang  did  overcrowd  the  joy, 

And  disappointment  blight  the  springing  hope, 

Evil  defile  the  purpose  willed  to  good, 

And  vile  expediency  did  prostitute 

Its  highest  faculties  to  ways  of  men — 

So  great  a  boon  it  should  be  carried  on, 

Perpetuated  through  eternity? 

Its  vast  capacity  for  anguish  deep, 

Imperious  loves,  that  satisfaction  cloys, 

But  that  denial  into  frenzy  turns, 

And  that  bereavement  into  hopelessness 

And  blank  despair,  a  cataclysm,  sweeps; 

Its  stormy  passions,  its  illusive  hopes, 

Its  yearnings,  that  fulfillment  never  reach, 

Are    wires    that    keep    from    home    the    captive 

soul, 

In  durance  held  to  Self's  propensities. 
Ambitions  gild  and  expectations  deck, 
I/ike  gold  that  in  its  thinnest  leaf  is  spread, 
And  some  flamboyant  ribbon  that  doth  wave 
Its  gaudy  pennant  from  the  metal  thread 


no          .      THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Life's  draw-plate  forms  to  bound  its  prison  cell ; 

But  spite  these  gauds,  it  is  a  prison  still. 

And  would'st  thou  ever,  like  the  helpless  bird, 

Swing  td  and  fro  within  the  vibrant  ring 

That  from  joy  gravitates  again  to  grief; 

Tenure  to  loss,  and  mirth  to  misery ; 

From  bliss  to  woe,  the  sport  of  circumstance? 

O,  kingdom  of  the  blest,  that  moveth  not 

To  sight  or  sound  that  this  discursive  life 

But  shows  to  flatter,  utters  to  distract, 

I  fain  would  hasten  up,  from  height  to  height 

That  ever  rises  to  a  loftier  plane 

Of  increased  power  that  from  experience  grows 

To  put  Self's  requisitions  under  foot; 

Resist,  and  long  not,  while  I  yet  resist, 

For  crown  that  their  indulgence  ofFereth; 

Climb,  climb  o'er  death  and  its  recurrent  life, 

(My  own  and  that  of  all  unto  me  dear,) 

Until  with  pulse  becalmed  I  enter  in 

To  where  no  trasport  e'er  can  quicken  it, 

And  no  distress  can  slow  its  measured  throb; 

Where  'no  desire  that  hath  an  earthly  strain' 

Hath  power  to  make  its  paltry  presence  felt ; 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.         in 

Hath  speech  to  urge  unrest  upon  the  soul, 
Nirvana  bathes  in  a  complete  repose." 

"And  dost  thou  call  the  thing  thou  namest,  Life? 
The  gilded  cage  that  holds  the  captive  bird? 
That  is  the  wire-hedged  school  of  discipline 
In  which  his  fretted  search  for  liberty 
Through  love,  and  hope,  and  pleasure,  doth  increase, 
As  disappointment  on  it  follows  close, 
The  sweetness  of  the  melody  he  sings; 
Brings  in  the  minor  chord  of  higher  hope, 
Whose  very  longing  as  a  surety  stands, 
That  when,  with  chill  white  hand,  the  messenger 
Of  death  shall  touch  and  set  the  bars  apart, 
His  upward  course  shall  soar  amid  the  stars, 
And  the  wide  fields  of  ether  be  his  home. 
The  wing  was  made  to  beat  the  boundless  air; 
Its  quill  and  covert  for  a  purposed  flight; 
And  every  frantic  longing  of  man's  soul 
That  goads  him  on,  some  promised  goal  to  reach, 
His  hopes  have  whispered  shall  with  sweet  reward 
Of  lasting  satisfaction  crown  his  quest, 
Which,  having  reached,  of  narrow  scope  he  finds, 


ii2  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

And  joy  too  poor  its  depths  to  satisfy, 

Is  frame  of  wing  that  yet  shall  be  unfurled 

To  waft  him  to  delights  unchangeable. 

Like  Iris'  is  the  mission  of  his  want 

And  colors  of  the  rainbow  it  combines ; 

It  sets  a  promise  in  life's  clouded  sky 

Of  life  to  come  that  shall  not  know  a  cloud. 

The  darkest  shadow  witnesses  of  light ; 

Woe  testifies  felicity  supreme ; 

And    Christ   through   his    triumphant  death  has 

brought 

To  light  true  life  and  immortality. 
This  beautiful  and  bright  antithesis 
Against  thy  theory  of  good  I  set. 
Thy  '  Mind  Supreme '  doth  by  destruction  bless ; 
My  Savior  purifies  to  holiness ! 
Thou  dost  with  stoic  will  thy  thirst  repress ; 
Mine  shall  be  quenched  in  the  broad  boundlessness 
Of  life's  refreshing  stream,  which,  unconfined, 
Flows  o'er  the  plains  of  everlasting  bliss. 
Thy  loves  are  slain  to  bring  thy  spirit  peace, 
But  mine  unto  His  bosom  with  me  go ; 
Of  all  their  pangs  and  stings  there  dispossessed, 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.        113 

Shall  on  me  look  with  eyes  in  which  I  see 
The  tender  light  of  human  memory. 
Not  famine  weakens  power  of  sin  to  slay, 
But  full  experience  of  diviner  joy. 
Thy  nature's  worthy  of  a  loftier  hope ; 
Thy  morals  seem  to  have  a  wholesome  look; 
Thy  meek  endurance  speaks  of  fortitude ; 
But  thou  dost  need  to  study  God  anew, 
And  to  him  higher  attributes  ascribe." 

"Give  space  a  moment!    Let  me  know  the  name 
By  which  to  call  thee." 

"  'T  is  enough  to  know 
I  but  a  weary  earthly  pilgrim  am." 

"  Then,  pilgrim,  there  is  mystery  in  thy  creed, 
By   which    the  'one  pure  spark'  of  which    thou 

speak 'st 

Was  made  to  bear  man's  penalty  for  sins, 
And  through  whose  substitution  for  himself 
Man  shall  be  blest.     Explain  it,  thou — this  plan 
By  which  to  dodge  a  punishment  deserved, 

And  to  thyself  an  unearned  bliss  secure." 

10 


ii4  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

"  Yes  ;  there  is  mystery.     This  book  proclaims 
'  Of  godliness  the  mystery  is  great.' 
Thou  say'st  well  when  thou  stoutly  dost  declare 
Effect  of  good  or  evil  follows  cause. 
Christ's  substitution  satisfies  God's  law, 
And  takes  away  the  penalty  it  claims 
From  man  for  disobedience  thereto. 
Results  that  follow  sin  in  sequent  chain 
Of  earthly  evils,  must,  as  such,  be  borne. 
But  if,  through  faith,  acceptance  has  been  made 
Of  that  he  wrought  to  free  us  from  the  sin, 
Then  from  our  souls  its  soil  is  washed  away, 
And  in  God's  sight  we  have  been  justified. 
No  Savior  having  thou,  the  sin  remains ; 
Not  only  such  results  as  touch  the  world, 
But  those  that  do  affect  the  spirit  life. 
For,  if  imperfect,  and  no  help  thou  hast, 
Not  Deity,  nor  Demon,  but  thyself 
Thy  sole  and  only  Providence,  how  hope 
To  satisfy  a  law  which  doth  demand 
Compliance  so  complete,  a  perfect  man 
With  its  conditions  only  can  comply  ? 
I  know  not  how  the  matter  thou  explain  'st, 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.         115 

But  thou  dost  know  at  variance  man  stands 
With  every  high  ideal  perfection  hath; 
And  save  that  his  '  infirmities '  have  help, 
How  shall  his  wayward  spirit  e'er  espouse 
Or  e'en  desire  that  they  become  his  own? 
Thou  speak'st  of  struggle  'gainst  the  lower  life, 
But  what  shall  gird  to  conflict  and  give  strength, 
To  worst  the  enemy  his  own  soul  loves, 
If  from  some  influence  higher  than  himself, 
The  courage  comes  not ;  if  himself  alone, 
Not  Deity,  nor  Demon,  but  himself, 
Doth  constitute  his  only  Providence?" 

"His  will—" 

"Alas  !  what 's  weaker  than  man's  will  ?" 

"But  pilgrim,  if  award  that  is  not  thine 
Be,  from  thy  substitute,  to  thee  transferred, 
Thy  duties  thou  may'st  claim  in  him  fulfilled, 
And  moral  chaos  'whelm  the  universe." 

"  There  art  thou  wrong.     He  only  doth  perform 
The  thing  I  could  not  do;  but  having  done, 


n6  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

He  does  demand  of  me,  in  the  new  strength 
His  grace  and  mercy  to  my  soul  impart, 
Fulfillment  of  each  duty  life  declares. 
But  to  what  virtue  did  thy  words  allude 
As  that  which  overcometh  evil's  reign?" 

"Unselfishness;  that  virtue  which  o'ercomes 
The  baser  passions  of  the  human  heart, 
Obliterating  envy,  malice,  pride, 
And  all  uncharitable  thought,  whence  springs 
Forth  peculation,  murder,  every  crime 
Dishonoring  and  disgracing  human  kind; 
An  altruism  not  of  name,  but  deed." 

"Nay,  now  thou  speak'st  a  language  that  I  know. 
Christian  commandment  runs  to  this  effect, 
That  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 
The  Being  I  adore,  himself  did  die 
For  love  of  them  that  shed  his  sacred  blood, 
And  from  the  cross  in  dying  accents  cried, 
'Forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.' 
Had  thy  progenitor  such  gift  for  man? 
Such  pure  unselfish  love  did  he  display? 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.        117 

'Ransom  for  many'  was  his  life  laid  down? 

There  is  a  virtue  in  my  Savior's  blood 

That  cleanseth  whatsoe'er  its  flow  doth  touch; 

Evokes  a  sweet  and  stainless  purity, 

L,ike  the  white  flower  by  crimson  juices  fed 

That  springs  from  Sanguinaria's  bloody  root. 

Nay,  let  me  tell  thee  that  there  can  not  be 

An  altruistic  sacrifice,  like  his, 

Of  pure  unselfishness,  from  lives  forlorn 

Revolving  ever  'round  their  own  weak  selves; 

Forever  struggling  with  inherent  sins 

And  striving,  ceaselessly,  escape  to  make 

From  pits  of  clay  whose  mire  still  holds  them  fast, 

With  no  God  reaching  down  to  set  them  free." 

"Dost  thou  delight  to  think  man,  then,  so  weak, 
He  has  within  him  no  o'ercoming  power?" 

"I  do  delight  to  think  he  is  God's  child, 
Forgotten  never  in  the  sorry  strife 
With  misery  and  with  sin  he 's  called  to  wage. 
For  I  do  know — delight  it  me  or  not — 
That  human  nature  can  not  overcome 


u8  THE  PILGRIM'S  VISION. 

Save  He  doth  help  to  make  the  victory  sure. 
How  canst  thou  glory  in  a  God  like  thine, 
Who  throws  thee  off  and  leaves  thee  to  thyself, 
Not  pure  and  strong  like  him  emitting  thee, 
But  somehow,  in  the  process,  changed,  made  vile? 
Leaves  thee  to  life  and  death  that  follows  it, 
And  life  that  reappears,  with  death  in  turn, 
Through  ages,  thy  perfection  to  attain? 
If  thy  beginning  thou  couldst  have  obtained 
From  other  source,  then  would  thy  fate  proceed 
All  independent  of  that  '  Mind  Supreme,' 
From  first  to  last;  but  as  it  comes  to  thee 
Alone  through  him,  far  better  had  it  been 
If  from  himself  he  'd  ne'er  emitted  thee. 
Supreme  and  glorious  thou  may'st  call  his  name, 
But  He  I  worship  has  a  title  sweet  — 

0  Father  holy;  Elder  Brother  dear!— 

And  blest,  on  which  his  children  rest  their  hopes, 
Of  help  on  earth,  through  one  brief  being  here, 
And  then  immortal  bliss  beyond  the  tomb. 

1  joy  to  think  that  I  created  was, 
And  that  my  life  in  Him,  eternally, 
Will  be  that  of  an  entity  that  lives 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.         119 

And  loves,  and  follows  out  the  loftiest  trend 
Of  individual  hope,  desire,  and  will. 
Leave  thy  communings  with  thyself,  and  look 
To  Him  who  can  a  happier  prospect  show! 
Thy  theories  are  false,  and  all  the  light 
That  in  thee  is,  is  darkness  most  profound. 
Theosophy,  to  thy  high  name  look  up ! 
For  he  alone  is  wise  in  things  of  God, 
Who  cometh  humbly  as  a  little  child, 
And  casts  the  sins  and  burdens  of  his  life, 
And  all  things  that  perplex  or  make  afraid, 
On  Jesus,  who  has  died  that  he  might  live." 

And,  as  she  spake,  before  her  growing  dim, 
And  dimmer,  as  she  gazed,  the  sage's  face 
She,  in  amazement,  saw  fade  from  her  sight; 
Merge  in  a  vaporous  cloud  of  golden  haze, 
That  seemed  to  spread  and  deepened  as  it  grew. 
All  things  receded,  vanished  in  its  glow, 
Which  wrapped  the  universe,  and  held  it  bound 
In  radiant  encompassing  embrace; 
So  radiant  that  it  touched  the  pilgrim's  eyes 
With  sense  of  an  excess  that  smote  with  pain. 


120  THE  PILGRIM'  s  VISION. 

She  moved,  put  up  her  hands,  and  lo,  behold ! 

'Twas  but  the  sunlight  on  her  eyelids  fell, 

As,  by  Auroral  messengers  proclaimed, 

And  heralded  along  the  eastern  skies, 

Up  steeps  of  pearly  gray  with  pink  o'erflushed, 

Came  Phoebus  forth,  to  steer  his  chariot's  course, 

And  shed  effulgence  on  another  day. 

Upon  the  grass  the  dew  still  glittering  lay ; 
The  birds  sang  morning  carols  in  the  trees. 
Before  her  stretched  the  pilgrim's  thoroughfare, 
As  barren,  blank,  and  drear  as  yesterday ; 
But  to  her  dazzled  eyes  the  way  seemed  changed. 
They  viewed  it  not  as  road  for  a  forced  march, 
But  avenue  of  opportunity, 

Where,  on  the  pilgrimage,  her  lips  might  speak, 
Perchance,  to  counteract  some  grave  mistake 
Of  fellow-pilgrim  on  the  toilsome  route. 
The  vanished  vision  of  the  night  was  sent, 
Through  Dreams  and  Fancies,  angels  in  disguise, 
She  mused,  to  show  her  mission  and  her  work, 
And  why,  though  desolate,  she  yet  remained, 
A  lonely  pilgrim,  on  the  journey  home. 


THE  PILGRIM  AND  THEOSOPHY.          121 

O,  that  she  might  be  worthy,  in  His  name, 
To  guide  some  soul  from  error  to  the  right ! 
She  clasped  the  Bible  to  her  throbbing  breast, 
Turned  from  life's  flowery  uplands  with  no  sigh, 
Thought  not  of  graves,  the  long  green  graves  she 

loved, 

But  of  their  tenants'  heavenly  ecstasy. 
And  forth  she  stepped  into  the  weary  way, 
Her  footsteps  keeping  measure  with  the  strain 
Of  joy  so  sweetly  singing  through  her  heart. 
"  O,  Christ !     Dear  Christ !     I  cast  my  all  on  thee  ! 
O  bliss !     O  bliss  !     I  do  believe  on  thee  ! 
Of  whate'er  else  deprived  my  life  may  be, 
It  hath  this  blessedness  of  faith  in  thee !" 

And  on  she  went  beneath  the  beating  sun, 
And  the  great  cross  its  shadow  o  'er  her  flung, 
Its  scarlet  lilies  dropping  ruddy  dews 
That  soothedand  cooled  and  strengthened  all  her  soul. 
She  raised  to  heaven  eyes  patient  and  serene, 
Filled  with  the  restful  light  of  chastened  trust, 
And  with  her  trembling  lips  she  murmured  low, 
"I  am  so  glad  to  serve  another  day!" 


from  which  it  was  borrowed 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  CALIlt*MA 

ANGMLJBS 


PS 


Baines  - 


3^03   The  pilgrim's 
Bl6lp  vision. 


SEP  ?  4  1953 


•••Iff 

A     000  918  U'D 


